Ridgetop, Tennessee

Ridgetop, Tennessee
City
Highland Chapel Union Church, a historic site in the city
Location of Ridgetop in Robertson County, Tennessee.
Ridgetop Location within the state of Tennessee
Coordinates: 36°23′47″N 86°46′22″W
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
Counties	Robertson, Davidson
Government
• Mayor	Darrell Denton
Area
• Total	2.9 sq mi (7.5 km2)
• Land	2.9 sq mi (7.5 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	899 ft (274 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	1,874
• Estimate  (2016)	2,076
• Density	650/sq mi (250/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	37152
Area code	615
FIPS code	47-63140
GNIS feature ID	1299405

Ridgetop is a city in Davidson and Robertson counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 1,874 at the 2010 census.

Geography

Ridgetop 36°23′47″N 86°46′22″W (36.396306, -86.772654), is located in Robertson County except for two small portions of the city that fall in Davidson County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.9 square miles (7.5 km²), all land.

There is a small man-made lake built to draw in tourism in the early 1900s. Underneath the town is "Ridgetop Tunnel", a railroad tunnel bored in the early 1900s. When completed in 1905, it was the longest free-standing (i.e., with no columnar supports) tunnel in the world.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1910	43		—
1920	126		193.0%
1930	196		55.6%
1940	351		79.1%
1950	354		0.9%
1960	372		5.1%
1970	858		130.6%
1980	1,225		42.8%
1990	1,132		−7.6%
2000	1,083		−4.3%
2010	1,874		73.0%
2016 (est.)	2,076		10.8%
Sources:

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,083 people, 385 households, and 314 families residing in the city. The population density was 678.3 people per square mile (261.3/km²). There were 399 housing units at an average density of 249.9 per square mile (96.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.12% White, 1.48% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.55% Asian, 0.18% from other races, and 1.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.02% of the population.

There were 385 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.5% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.4% were non-families. 16.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city, the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $52,381, and the median income for a family was $57,589. Males had a median income of $40,813 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,610. About 4.3% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.2% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.

Movie

Scenes for Hannah Montana: The Movie were filmed at the special events facility "Smiley Hollow". The movie was released April 10, 2009.

Notable residents

• Grandpa Jones - American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer and member of the Grand Ole Opry
• David "Stringbean" Akeman - American country music banjo player and comedy musician best known for his role on the hit television show, Hee Haw, and as a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He and his wife were neighbors of Grandpa Jones' and were both murdered at their home in 1973
• Willie Nelson - American country music singer and songwriter who wrote some of country's biggest hits with several crossover hits by many artists such as Roy Orbison. Willie owned a ranch in Ridgetop, TN from 1963 to 1970 where he wrote many of his songs. It burned down in 1970 and Willie took it as a sign and moved back to Texas.