Jackson County, Tennessee

Not to be confused with Jackson, Tennessee.

Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 11,617 at the 2020 census.^[2] Its county seat is Gainesboro.^[3] Jackson is part of the Cookeville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Jackson County
County
Jackson County Courthouse in Gainesboro
Location within the U.S. state of Tennessee
Tennessee's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 36°22′N 85°40′W
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
Founded	1801
Named after	Andrew Jackson[1]
Seat	Gainesboro
Largest town	Gainesboro
Area
• Total	320 sq mi (800 km2)
• Land	308 sq mi (800 km2)
• Water	11 sq mi (30 km2)  3.5%
Population  (2020)
• Total	11,617
• Density	38/sq mi (15/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	6th
Website	www.jacksoncotn.com

History

Jackson County was created by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly on November 6, 1801. It was the 18th county established in the state. It was formed from part of Smith County plus Indian lands. The name honors Andrew Jackson, who by 1801 had already served as a U.S. Congressman and Senator from Tennessee, a Tennessee Supreme Court justice, and a colonel in the Tennessee militia. He became more widely known as commander at the Battle of New Orleans and as the seventh President of the United States.^[4]

In the 1790s, an Army outpost named Fort Blount was built 10 miles (16 km) west of Gainesboro on the Cumberland River, in what is now western Jackson County. Fort Blount was an important stop for travelers on Avery's Trace. Williamsburg, a town developed around the fort, served as the Jackson County seat from 1807 to 1819.^[5] The county's early records were all lost in a disastrous courthouse fire on August 14, 1872.^[6]

The 1970 Movie "I Walk The Line" starring Gregory Peck was filmed in Gainesboro and Jackson County.

Geography

Cummins Falls

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 320 square miles (830 km²), of which 308 square miles (800 km²) is land and 11 square miles (28 km²) (3.5%) is water.^[7]

Adjacent counties

• Clay County (north)
• Overton County (east)
• Putnam County (south)
• Smith County (southwest)
• Macon County (northwest)

State protected areas

• The Boils Wildlife Management Area
• Cummins Falls State Park
• Cordell Hull Wildlife Management Area (part)
• Washmorgan Hollow State Natural Area

Highways

• SR 53
• SR 56
• SR 85
• SR 96
• SR 151
• SR 135
• SR 262
• SR 290

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1810	5,401		—
1820	7,593		40.6%
1830	9,698		27.7%
1840	12,872		32.7%
1850	15,673		21.8%
1860	11,725		−25.2%
1870	12,583		7.3%
1880	12,008		−4.6%
1890	13,325		11.0%
1900	15,039		12.9%
1910	15,036		0.0%
1920	14,955		−0.5%
1930	13,589		−9.1%
1940	15,082		11.0%
1950	12,348		−18.1%
1960	9,233		−25.2%
1970	8,141		−11.8%
1980	9,398		15.4%
1990	9,297		−1.1%
2000	10,984		18.1%
2010	11,638		6.0%
2020	11,617		−0.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[8] 1790-1960[9] 1900-1990[10] 1990-2000[11] 2010-2014[12]

Age pyramid for Jackson County^[13]

2020 census

Jackson County, Tennessee – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000[14]	Pop 2010[15]	Pop 2020[16]	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	10,763	11,267	10,778	97.99%	96.81%	92.78%
Black or African American alone (NH)	16	29	31	0.15%	0.25%	0.27%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	37	52	35	0.34%	0.45%	0.30%
Asian alone (NH)	7	10	17	0.06%	0.09%	0.15%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	1	1	0	0.01%	0.01%	0.00%
Other race alone (NH)	0	5	28	0.00%	0.04%	0.24%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	71	110	483	0.65%	0.95%	4.16%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	89	164	245	0.81%	1.41%	2.11%
Total	10,984	11,638	11,617	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 11,617 people, 4,566 households, and 2,745 families residing in the county.

2000 census

As of the census^[17] of 2000, there were 10,984 people, 4,466 households, and 3,139 families residing in the county. The population density was 36 people per square mile (14 people/km²). There were 5,163 housing units at an average density of 17 units per square mile (6.6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.63% White, 0.15% Black or African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.12% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. 0.81% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,466 households, out of which 28.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.70% were non-families. 25.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.30% under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 26.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,502, and the median income for a family was $32,088. Males had a median income of $24,759 versus $19,511 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,020. About 15.10% of families and 18.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.10% of those under age 18 and 22.50% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Town

• Gainesboro (county seat)

Census-designated place

• Dodson Branch

Unincorporated communities

• Center Grove
• Granville
• Mayfield
• Nameless
• North Springs
• Shady Grove
• Whitleyville

Politics

United States presidential election results for Jackson County, Tennessee^[18]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	4,586	80.80%	1,040	18.32%	50	0.88%
2020	4,118	77.36%	1,135	21.32%	70	1.32%
2016	3,236	72.46%	1,129	25.28%	101	2.26%
2012	2,383	56.96%	1,739	41.56%	62	1.48%
2008	2,185	48.54%	2,224	49.41%	92	2.04%
2004	2,026	40.07%	2,998	59.30%	32	0.63%
2000	1,384	29.11%	3,304	69.50%	66	1.39%
1996	944	22.69%	2,889	69.43%	328	7.88%
1992	708	16.63%	3,208	75.34%	342	8.03%
1988	1,168	37.15%	1,962	62.40%	14	0.45%
1984	1,544	34.42%	2,894	64.51%	48	1.07%
1980	995	28.15%	2,480	70.16%	60	1.70%
1976	591	16.56%	2,959	82.91%	19	0.53%
1972	956	45.98%	1,085	52.19%	38	1.83%
1968	673	24.90%	1,122	41.51%	908	33.59%
1964	551	19.39%	2,291	80.61%	0	0.00%
1960	1,049	39.80%	1,539	58.38%	48	1.82%
1956	881	33.13%	1,743	65.55%	35	1.32%
1952	1,138	40.25%	1,686	59.64%	3	0.11%
1948	536	24.51%	1,502	68.68%	149	6.81%
1944	695	32.88%	1,407	66.56%	12	0.57%
1940	605	22.74%	2,046	76.92%	9	0.34%
1936	422	19.83%	1,702	79.98%	4	0.19%
1932	256	12.89%	1,726	86.91%	4	0.20%
1928	614	42.17%	827	56.80%	15	1.03%
1924	354	24.62%	1,074	74.69%	10	0.70%
1920	1,187	51.97%	1,097	48.03%	0	0.00%
1916	740	32.95%	1,506	67.05%	0	0.00%
1912	743	31.78%	1,344	57.49%	251	10.74%

As a secessionist Middle Tennessee county, Jackson County was historically one of the most Democratic in the state. Only once up to 2008 did a Democrat lose the county – when Warren G. Harding carried Jackson County by ninety votes in his record popular-vote landslide of 1920, due to large increases in voter turnout for the isolationist cause Harding espoused.^[19] Along with Lewis County it was one of two Tennessee counties to be carried by both Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and George McGovern in 1972.

However, like most of Appalachia and surrounding areas, Jackson County has since 2000 seen a very rapid shift towards the Republican Party due to opposition to the Democratic Party's liberal views on social issues.^[20] Whereas Al Gore (who grew up in neighboring Smith County) won almost seventy percent of the vote in 2000, Barack Obama won by only thirty-nine votes in 2008, Mitt Romney became only the second Republican to carry the county in 2012 and Donald Trump four years later received over 70% of the vote - the first time that any Republican even surpassed 60% of the vote in Jackson County. Trump successively gained more and more in Jackson County in 2020 and 2024, even reaching 80% of the vote in the latter, although Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn failed to reach 80% on the same ballot in the concurrent U.S. Senate election.

Despite this drastic shift in the county overall at the federal level, Democrats continued to compete in the Gainesboro town limits in statewide elections as recently as 2018, when former Governor Phil Bredesen lost Gainesboro by just a 4.4% margin even as he lost to Blackburn statewide by double-digits.^[21] Republican Governor Bill Lee also did more poorly in Gainesboro than statewide in both 2018 and 2022.^[22] Furthermore, conservative Democrat^[23] John Mark Windle represented Jackson County in the state House until 2022, when he switched to being an independent politician, Jackson County was drawn out of the 41st state House district and into the neighboring 40th district^[24][25][26] and Windle narrowly lost re-election to Republican Ed Butler in his redrawn district.^[27] Last but not least, despite Jackson County's extremely heavy partisan lean, local Republicans often aren't as socially far-right as even those in neighboring, urban Putnam County which is less red on paper, with a misogynistic, authoritarian, xenophobic, white supremacist and anti-LGBT Christian nationalist hate group formed by out-of-staters in the early 2020s^[28] being denounced by people originally from Jackson County and the vice chair of the local Republican Party when the news of their arrival broke. "This town is not for them," one local resident interviewed said of the hate group.^{[29][30][31][32]}

See also

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