The Flag of Tennessee
Tennessee ( TEN -iss-EE , TEN -iss-ee ), officially the State of Tennessee , is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States . It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia , Alabama , and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the southwest, and Missouri to the northwest. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. Tennessee is geographically, culturally, and legally divided into three Grand Divisions of East , Middle , and West Tennessee . Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, and anchors its largest metropolitan area. Other major cities include Memphis , Knoxville , Chattanooga , and Clarksville . Tennessee's population as of the 2020 United States census is approximately 6.9 million.
Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association , a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachian Mountains . Its name derives from Tanasi (ᏔᎾᏏ ), a Cherokee town in the eastern part of the state that existed before the first European American settlement. Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later the Southwest Territory , before its admission to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. It earned the nickname "The Volunteer State" early in its history due to a strong tradition of military service. A slave state until the American Civil War , Tennessee was politically divided, with most of its western and middle parts supporting the Confederacy , and most of the eastern region harboring pro -Union sentiment. As a result, Tennessee was the last state to officially secede from the Union and join the Confederacy , and the first former Confederate state readmitted to the Union after the war had ended during the lengthy Reconstruction era .
During the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from a predominantly agrarian society to a more diversified economy. This was aided in part by massive federal investment in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the city of Oak Ridge , which was established during World War II to house the Manhattan Project 's uranium enrichment facilities for the construction of the world's first atomic bombs . After the war, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory became a key center of scientific research. In 2016, the element tennessine was named for the state, largely in recognition of the roles played by Oak Ridge, Vanderbilt University , and the University of Tennessee in its discovery. Tennessee has also played a major role in the development of many forms of popular music , including country , blues , rock and roll , soul , and gospel . (Full article... )
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Howell Edmunds Jackson (April 8, 1832 – August 8, 1895) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1893 until his death in 1895. His brief tenure on the Supreme Court is most remembered for his opinion in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. , in which Jackson argued in dissent that a federal income tax was constitutional. Republican President Benjamin Harrison appointed Jackson, a Democrat , to the Court. His rulings demonstrated support for broad federal power, a skepticism of states' rights and an inclination toward judicial restraint . Jackson's unexpected death after only two years of service prevented him from having a substantial impact on American history.
Born in
Paris, Tennessee , in 1832, Jackson earned a law degree from
Cumberland Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1856. He briefly practiced law in
Jackson before moving to
Memphis, Tennessee , in 1857. Although he had initially opposed
secession , he took a position in the
Confederate civil service after the
Civil War broke out. He returned to the practice of law after the war, but he also took an interest in politics. After an unsuccessful run for the
Tennessee Supreme Court , he was elected to a seat in the
Tennessee House of Representatives in 1880. When the legislature deadlocked over the selection of a
U.S. Senator , Jackson was selected as a consensus candidate, garnering bipartisan support. Despite being a loyal Democrat, he was held in high regard by fellow officeholders of both political parties, including Democrat
Grover Cleveland and Republican Benjamin Harrison. When Cleveland became president, he appointed Jackson to a seat on the federal
circuit court for the
Sixth Circuit . While on the circuit court, he sided with businesses in a major antitrust dispute and supported an expansive view of constitutional freedoms in a civil rights case. (
Full article... )
List of recognized articles
Bledsoe Creek State Park is a state park in Sumner County, Tennessee , in the southeastern United States. The park consists of 169 acres (0.68 km2 ) managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The park spans much of the west shore of the Bledsoe Creek embayment of Old Hickory Lake , an impoundment of the Cumberland River created with the completion of Old Hickory Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1954.
Bledsoe Creek State Park was developed as a recreational area by the Corps as part of its Old Hickory Dam project, and was designated a state park by the state of Tennessee in 1973. The park is primarily a campground and recreational boating and fishing area, although the park has developed several miles of hiking trails and provides environmental programs throughout the year. The park is located within a 5-mile (8.0 km) radius of the
Wynnewood and
Cragfont state historic sites,
Bledsoe's Fort Historic Park , a
Mississippian -period mound complex, and the
Cairo Rosenwald School , all of which attest to the area's pre-historic and historic importance to the Upper Cumberland region. (
Full article... )
List of selected articles
History of Tennessee List of Tennessee state symbols Nashville, Tennessee List of governors of Tennessee Governor of Tennessee East Tennessee Middle Tennessee West Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee Tennessee River Memphis, Tennessee Chattanooga, Tennessee Clarksville, Tennessee Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Cleveland, Tennessee Dolly Parton Tennessee State Guard University of Memphis Toqua (Tennessee) Great Smoky Mountains Great Smoky Mountains Interstate 40 in Tennessee Old Crow Medicine Show Swaggerty Blockhouse Unicoi Mountains Old City, Knoxville Nashville Americans Valerie June Battle of Fort Donelson Battle of Fort Henry Collierville, Tennessee Vanderbilt University Tennessee whiskey Jack Daniel's Grand Ole Opry Battle of Nashville Nashville Superspeedway Johnny Cash Carl Perkins Tennessee Waltz Morristown, Tennessee Fainting goat Bessie Smith Cookeville, Tennessee Murfreesboro, Tennessee Bob Corker Edgar Evins State Park Graceland Dollywood Tennessee Valley Authority Black Patch Tobacco Wars Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The following are images from various Tennessee-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 The
1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from
Tennessee )
Image 2 Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities. (from
Tennessee )
Image 3 Reconstruction of
Fort Loudoun , the first British settlement in Tennessee (from
Tennessee )
Image 4 Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from
Tennessee )
Image 5 1861 Bank of Tennessee 1 dollar banknote (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 8 A View of Memphis, Tennessee , 1871 (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 10 The
resort city of
Gatlinburg borders the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park , which is the most visited national park in the United States. (from
Tennessee )
Image 11 Al Gore served as a
United States Senator from Tennessee (1985–1993) and as
Vice President of the United States (1993–2001) (from
Tennessee )
Image 12 Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female) (from
Tennessee )
Image 13 Workers at the
Norris Dam construction camp site in 1933 (from
Tennessee )
Image 14 Map of counties in Tennessee by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census
Non-Hispanic White 50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
Black or African American 50–60%
(from
Tennessee )
Image 15 Calutron operators at the
Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge during the
Manhattan Project (from
Tennessee )
Image 16 Offices of
The Tennessean in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 17 Memphis International Airport , the hub of
FedEx Corporation , is the busiest cargo airport in the world (from
Tennessee )
Image 18 Map of counties in Tennessee by racial plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census
Non-Hispanic White 50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90%+
Black or African American 50–60%
(from
Tennessee )
Image 22 A
Nissan Leaf , one of six models manufactured at the
Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant , the largest automotive assembly plant in North America (from
Tennessee )
Image 24 Cedar glades are an ecosystem that is found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from
Tennessee )
Image 25 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 26 Conquistador Hernando de Soto , first European to visit Tennessee (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 27 The
Grand Ole Opry , which was recorded in
Nashville 's
Ryman Auditorium from 1943 to 1974, is the longest-running
radio broadcast in US history. (from
Tennessee )
Image 28 Calutron operators at the
Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge during the
Manhattan Project (from
Tennessee )
Image 29 The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from
Tennessee )
Image 30 The Tennessee at Chattanooga , 1872, by
Harry Fenn (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 31 John Bell (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 32 Howard Baker served as
Senate Minority and Majority Leader from 1977 to 1985, and was known as "The Great Conciliator" (from
Tennessee )
Image 33 in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a
commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood. (from
Tennessee )
Image 34 Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female) (from
Tennessee )
Image 35 Köppen climate types of Tennessee, using 1991–2020
climate normals . (from
Tennessee )
Image 36 The
Ocoee River was home to the
1996 Summer Olympics whitewater slalom events, the only Olympic sporting event ever held in the state. (from
Tennessee )
Image 37 The
Ryman Auditorium , home of the "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 38 The
Battle of Franklin , November 30, 1864 (from
Tennessee )
Image 39 Surveyor
Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796) (from
Tennessee )
Image 40 A
Nissan Leaf , one of six models manufactured at the
Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant , the largest automotive assembly plant in North America (from
Tennessee )
Image 41 Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from
Tennessee )
Image 43 Established in 1942,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest national laboratory in the Department of Energy system (from
Tennessee )
Image 44 Surveyor
Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796) (from
Tennessee )
Image 45 The
1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from
Tennessee )
Image 46 A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from
Tennessee )
Image 47 A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from
Tennessee )
Image 49 Offices of
The Tennessean in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 50 Fall Creek Falls , the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau (from
Tennessee )
Image 51 The
Battle of Franklin , November 30, 1864 (from
Tennessee )
Image 52 Nashville's replica of the
Parthenon (built 1897) (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 54 Fall Creek Falls , the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau (from
Tennessee )
Image 55 in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a
commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood. (from
Tennessee )
Image 56 Köppen climate types of Tennessee, using 1991–2020
climate normals . (from
Tennessee )
Image 58 Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War (from
Tennessee )
Image 59 Cedar glades are an ecosystem that is found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from
Tennessee )
Image 61 Established in 1942,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest national laboratory in the Department of Energy system (from
Tennessee )
Image 62 Memphis became known as the "Cotton Capital of the World" in the years following the Civil War (from
Tennessee )
Image 63 The
Ocoee River was home to the
1996 Summer Olympics whitewater slalom events, the only Olympic sporting event ever held in the state. (from
Tennessee )
Image 64 The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from
Tennessee )
Image 65 Mount Le Conte in the
Great Smoky Mountains is the tallest mountain in eastern North America, measured from base to summit (from
Tennessee )
Image 66 Reconstruction of
Fort Loudoun , the first British settlement in Tennessee (from
Tennessee )
Image 67 Workers at the
Norris Dam construction camp site in 1933 (from
Tennessee )
Image 68 Mount Le Conte in the
Great Smoky Mountains is the tallest mountain in eastern North America, measured from base to summit (from
Tennessee )
Image 69 Howard Baker served as
Senate Minority and Majority Leader from 1977 to 1985, and was known as "The Great Conciliator" (from
Tennessee )
Image 70 Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities. (from
Tennessee )
Image 71 Al Gore served as a
United States Senator from Tennessee (1985–1993) and as
Vice President of the United States (1993–2001) (from
Tennessee )
Image 72 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson in Nashville (from
Tennessee )
Image 74 The Hermitage , plantation home of President
Andrew Jackson , now a museum in
Davidson County (from
History of Tennessee )
Image 75 Memphis International Airport , the hub of
FedEx Corporation , is the busiest cargo airport in the world (from
Tennessee )
Image 77 The
resort city of
Gatlinburg borders the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park , which is the most visited national park in the United States. (from
Tennessee )
Image 78 The
Grand Ole Opry , which was recorded in
Nashville 's
Ryman Auditorium from 1943 to 1974, is the longest-running
radio broadcast in US history. (from
Tennessee )
... that Tennessee State Route 396 was constructed to provide access to the Spring Hill Manufacturing plant of Saturn Corporation ?
... that WTVK in Knoxville, Tennessee , won a years-long battle to move from UHF to a VHF channel, only to be sent by new management to "that big TV station in the sky"?
... that Mary Shadow , the first unmarried woman in the Tennessee House of Representatives , received fourteen marriage proposals after her election?
... that the Pellissippi Parkway in East Tennessee takes its name from a Native American name that was applied to both the Clinch and Ohio Rivers ?
... that the 75/24 Split in Chattanooga, Tennessee , has been one of the worst bottlenecks for trucks in the United States?
... that Symphyotrichum kentuckiense , the Kentucky aster, is only found on limestone cedar glades and limestone roadsides in Alabama , Georgia , Kentucky , and Tennessee ?
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories