Portal:Tennessee

The Tennessee Portal

Tennessee (/ˌtɛnɪˈsiː/ ^ⓘ, locally /ˈtɛnɪsi/), 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. According to the United States Census Bureau, the state's estimated population as of 2024 is 7.22 million.

Tennessee is geographically, culturally, and legally divided into three Grand Divisions of East, Middle, and West Tennessee. Nashville is the state's capital and most populous city, and anchors its largest metropolitan area. Tennessee has diverse terrain and landforms, and from east to west, contains a mix of cultural features characteristic of Appalachia, the Upland South, and the Deep South. The Blue Ridge Mountains along the eastern border reach some of the highest elevations in eastern North America, and the Cumberland Plateau contains many scenic valleys and waterfalls. The central part of the state is marked by cavernous bedrock and irregular rolling hills, and level, fertile plains define West Tennessee. The state is twice bisected by the Tennessee River, and the Mississippi River forms its western border. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation's most visited national park, is in eastern Tennessee.

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 preceding 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" 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 Reconstruction era. (Full article...)

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The Nashville Xpress were a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins from 1993 to 1994. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, and played their home games at Herschel Greer Stadium, sharing the ballpark with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds of the American Association. The Xpress were named for the trains which ran along tracks beyond the outfield wall and the team's sudden arrival and expected departure.

Formerly known as the Charlotte Knights, the Xpress were formed after the 1992 season when Charlotte, North Carolina, acquired a Triple-A expansion team in the International League, leaving the Southern League franchise in need of a new home. Larry Schmittou, president of the Triple-A Nashville club, offered to let the displaced team play at Greer Stadium until a permanent home could be found. Schmittou and the Sounds' staff served as caretakers of the team during the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Afterwards, the Xpress left Nashville to play on an interim basis in Wilmington, North Carolina, where they were known as the Port City Roosters in 1995 and 1996. The franchise eventually landed in Mobile, Alabama, as the Mobile BayBears in 1997. The team currently plays in Madison, Alabama, as the Rocket City Trash Pandas. (Full article...)

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View from the Cliff Tops formation atop Mount Le Conte

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a national park of the United States in the southeast, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and part of the Appalachian temperate rainforest, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The park contains some of the highest mountains in eastern North America, including Kuwohi, Mount Guyot, and Mount Le Conte. The border between the two states runs northeast to southwest through the center of the park. The Appalachian Trail passes through the center of the park on its route from Georgia to Maine. With over 11 million visitors in 2025, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States.

The park encompasses 522,419 acres (816.28 sq mi; 211,415.47 ha; 2,114.15 km²), making it one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States. The main park entrances are located along U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road) in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Cherokee, North Carolina, and also in Townsend, Tennessee. The park is internationally recognized for its mountains, waterfalls, biodiversity, and forests. In addition, the park preserves multiple historical structures that were part of communities occupied by early European-American settlers of the area. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Tennessee-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Cedar glades are ecosystems found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from Tennessee)
Image 2in 1946 the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp celebrating the 150th anniversary of Tennessee statehood. (from Tennessee)
Image 3The Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864 (from Tennessee)
Image 4The Tennessee River in the Tennessee River Gorge (from Tennessee)
Image 5Mississippian-period shell gorget, Castalian Springs, Sumner County (from History of Tennessee)
Image 6The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from Tennessee)
Image 7Al Gore served as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1985–1993) and as Vice President (1993–2001) (from Tennessee)
Image 8Cedar glades are ecosystems found in regions of Middle Tennessee where limestone bedrock is close to the surface (from Tennessee)
Image 9Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from Tennessee)
Image 10Surveyor Daniel Smith's "Map of the Tennassee State" (1796) (from Tennessee)
Image 11The Tennessee River in the Tennessee River Gorge (from Tennessee)
Image 12The Ryman Auditorium, home of the "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville (from History of Tennessee)
Image 13A Nissan Leaf, one of six models manufactured at the Nissan Smyrna Assembly Plant, the largest automotive assembly plant in North America (from Tennessee)
Image 14A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from Tennessee)
Image 15Chart showing poverty in Tennessee, by age and gender (red = female) (from Tennessee)
Image 16President Donald Trump speaks with U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty after signing a Presidential Memorandum that will deploy the National Guard to Memphis. (from Tennessee)
Image 17The 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 18Memphis International Airport, the hub of FedEx Corporation, often ranks as the busiest cargo airport in the world (from Tennessee)
Image 19Fall Creek Falls, the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States, is located on the Cumberland Plateau (from Tennessee)
Image 20President Donald Trump speaks with U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty after signing a Presidential Memorandum that will deploy the National Guard to Memphis. (from Tennessee)
Image 21John Bell (from History of Tennessee)
Image 22The Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville is one of the oldest working statehouses in the country, having been used continuously since 1853 (from Tennessee)
Image 23Reconstruction of Fort Loudoun, the first British settlement in Tennessee (from Tennessee)
Image 24Reconstruction of Fort Loudoun, the first British settlement in Tennessee (from Tennessee)
Image 25Mount Le Conte in the Great Smoky Mountains is the tallest mountain in eastern North America, measured from base to summit (from Tennessee)
Image 26Vanderbilt University in Nashville is consistently ranked as one of the top research institutions in the nation (from Tennessee)
Image 27Offices of The Tennessean in Nashville (from Tennessee)
Image 28Largest alone or in any combination ethnic origin by county in Tennessee, per the 2020 census (from Tennessee)
Image 29Largest alone or in any combination ethnic origin by county in Tennessee, per the 2020 census (from Tennessee)
Image 30Memphis International Airport, the hub of FedEx Corporation, often ranks as the busiest cargo airport in the world (from Tennessee)
Image 31Norris Dam, a hydroelectric dam operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. (from Tennessee)
Image 32A geomap showing the counties of Tennessee colored by the relative range of that county's median income. (from Tennessee)
Image 33The Tennessee at Chattanooga, 1872, by Harry Fenn (from History of Tennessee)
Image 34The Hermitage, plantation home of President Andrew Jackson in Nashville (from Tennessee)
Image 35Reelfoot Lake in West Tennessee was formed by the 1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes (from Tennessee)
Image 36Offices of The Tennessean in Nashville (from Tennessee)
Image 37Nashville's replica of the Parthenon (built 1897) (from History of Tennessee)
Image 38The Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville (from History of Tennessee)
Image 39The 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from Tennessee)
Image 40The 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 41The 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville (from History of Tennessee)
Image 42The Hermitage, plantation home of President Andrew Jackson, now a museum in Davidson County (from History of Tennessee)
Image 43The Southwest Territory in 1790 (from Tennessee)
Image 44Interstate 40 traverses Tennessee from east to west, and serves the state's three largest cities. (from Tennessee)
Image 45Tennessee Volunteers football (from Tennessee)
Image 46Köppen climate types of Tennessee, using 1991–2020 climate normals. (from Tennessee)
Image 47Alvin C. York (from History of Tennessee)
Image 48The Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville is one of the oldest working statehouses in the country, having been used continuously since 1853 (from Tennessee)
Image 49Conquistador Hernando de Soto, first European to visit Tennessee (from History of Tennessee)
Image 50Detail of Tanasi (spelled "Tennessee") on Henry Timberlake's Draught of the Cherokee Country (from Tennessee)

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... that when guitarist Pete Wade was 19, he moved to Nashville with $3, his suitcase, two ham sandwiches, and the telephone numbers of Don Helms and Jerry Rivers?
... that the tombs of U.S. President James K. Polk and First Lady Sarah Childress Polk are some of the many memorials and monuments at the Tennessee State Capitol?
... that a library of religion and science in Tennessee never opened to the public?
... that William Jenkins Wilcox Jr. was given a Citizen Archivist award at a symposium titled "Secret City in the Tennessee Hills: From Dogpatch to Nuclear Power"?
... that a section of Interstate 65 in Tennessee was the first part of the Interstate Highway System to open in the state?
... that Gerald Willis, after working as a bus driver at age 15, started a business that earned $2 million per year and built a replica of the Hermitage after watching The President's Lady?

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