Fentress County, Tennessee

Fentress County, Tennessee
Fentress County Courthouse in Jamestown, Tennessee
Location in the state of Tennessee
Tennessee's location in the U.S.
Founded	1823
Seat	Jamestown
Largest city	Jamestown
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	499 sq mi (1,292 km²) 499 sq mi (1,291 km²) .4 sq mi (1 km²), .07%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	17,959 33/sq mi (13/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Fentress County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 17,959. Its county seat is Jamestown.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 499 square miles (1,292.4 km²), of which 499 square miles (1,292.4 km²) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km²) (0.07%) is water.

Fentress County includes part of Dale Hollow Reservoir and is drained by forks of the Obey and Cumberland Rivers.

Adjacent counties

• Pickett County (north)
• Scott County (east)
• Morgan County (southeast)
• Cumberland County (south)
• Overton County (west)
• Putnam County (southwest)

National protected area

• Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (part)

History

Fentress County was formed in 1823 from portions of Morgan, Overton and White counties. The county was named in honor of James Fentress (1763–1843), who served as speaker of the state house, chairman of Montgomery County Court, and commissioner to select seats for Haywood, Carroll, Gibson and Weakley counties in West Tennessee.

Fentress County was the site of several saltpeter mines. Saltpeter is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from several local caves. The largest mine was in York Cave, which is located near the Wolf River Post Office. At one time, twenty-five (25) large leaching vats were in operation in this cave. According to Barr (1961) this cave was mined during the Civil War. Buffalo Cave near Jamestown was also a major mine with twelve (12) leaching vats. Manson Saltpeter Cave in Big Indian Creek Valley was a smaller operation with four (4) leaching vats. It is possible that any or all of these caves may have also been mined during the War of 1812, when saltpeter mining was widespread in both Kentucky and Tennessee. (Thomas C. Barr, Jr., "Caves of Tennessee", Bulletin 64 of the Tennessee Division of Geology, 1961, 568 pages.)

Alvin York (1887–1964), a hero at the Meuse-Argonne Offensive during World War I, was born and lived in Fentress County. He also established the Alvin C. York Agricultural Institute in Jamestown in 1924.[1]

Pumping water by hand in 1942 from the sole water supply in this section of Wilder, Tennessee in Fentress County.

Private Acts 2005, Chapter 27 redesignates the title of County Mayor as County Executive. State law changed the term of County Executive to County Mayor. Fentress County requested the General Assembly of Tennessee to redesignate the term back to County Executive.

At the time, a provision allowed a private act to be passed that would allow such a redesignation. This provision has now been closed and the general law no longer allows private acts to designate the title to County Executive. However, the law allows such redesignations to remain. Chapter 27 was enacted April 19, 2005 and was certified by the Secretary of State as adopted by the Fentress County Board of Commissioners on May 17, 2005.[2]

Demographics

Age pyramid Fentress County

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,625 people, 6,693 households, and 4,818 families residing in the county. The population density was 33 people per square mile (13/km²). There were 7,598 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 99.24% White, 0.11% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.03% from other races, and 0.37% from two or more races. 0.54% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,693 households out of which 31.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.30% were married couples living together, 11.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.00% were non-families. 25.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.20% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 26.10% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $23,238, and the median income for a family was $28,856. Males had a median income of $23,606 versus $18,729 for females. The per capita income for the county was $12,999. About 19.50% of families and 23.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.80% of those under age 18 and 20.50% of those age 65 or over.

Places

Valley of the Three Forks near Pall Mall, with the Cumberland Plateau dominating the horizon

Cities

• Allardt
• Jamestown

Unincorporated communities

• Armathwaite
• Banner Springs
• Boatland
• Clarkrange
• Forbus
• Grimsley
• Little Crab
• Mount Helen
• Pall Mall
• Shirley
• Tinchtown
• Wilder

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Fentress County, Tennessee

Further reading

• Duke, Jason. Tennessee Coal Mining, Railroading & Logging in Cumberland, Fentress, Overton & Putnam. Nashville: Turner Publishing (2004). ISBN 1563119323
• Hogue, Albert R. History of Fentress County, Tennessee. Santa Maria: Janaway Publishing (2010). ISBN 1596412208
• Hogue, Albert R. History of Fentress County, Tennessee; The Old Home of Mark Twain's Ancestors. Memphis: General Books (2010). ISBN 1150826479

External links

• Fentress County at the Open Directory Project
• Fentress county landforms