Clarksville, Tennessee

Clarksville is a city in Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, its county seat, and only incorporated municipality. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 2020 census, making it the fifth-most populous city in Tennessee. It is the principal city of the Clarksville metropolitan area, which consists of Montgomery and Stewart counties in Tennessee and Christian and Trigg counties in Kentucky.

The city was founded in 1785 and incorporated in 1807, and named for General George Rogers Clark, frontier fighter and Revolutionary War hero, and brother of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Clarksville is the home of Austin Peay State University; The Leaf-Chronicle, the oldest newspaper in Tennessee; and neighbor to the Fort Campbell, United States Army post. The site of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell is located about 10 miles (16 km) from downtown Clarksville and straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.

History of Clarksville

The area around Clarksville was first surveyed by Thomas Hutchins in 1768. He identified Red Paint Hill, a rock bluff at the confluence of the Cumberland and Red Rivers, as a navigational landmark.

In the years between 1771 and 1775, John Montgomery, the namesake of the county, along with Kasper Mansker, visited the area while on a hunting expedition. In 1771, James Robertson led a group of 12 or 13 families involved with the Regulator movement from near where present-day Raleigh, North Carolina now stands. In 1772, Robertson and the pioneers who had settled in northeast Tennessee (along the Watauga River, the Doe River, the Holston River, and the Nolichucky River) met at Sycamore Shoals to establish an independent regional government known as the Watauga Association.

In 1772, surveyors placed the land officially within the domain of the Cherokee tribe, who required negotiation of a lease with the settlers. As the lease was being celebrated, a Cherokee warrior was murdered by a white man. Through diplomacy, Robertson made peace with the Cherokee, who had threatened to expel the settlers by force.

In March 1775, land speculator and North Carolina judge Richard Henderson met with more than 1,200 Cherokees at Sycamore Shoals, including Cherokee leaders such as Attakullakulla, Oconostota, and Dragging Canoe. In the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals (also known as the Treaty of Watauga), Henderson purchased all the land lying between the Cumberland River, the Cumberland Mountains, and the Kentucky River, and situated south of the Ohio River in what is known as the Transylvania Purchase from the Cherokee Indians. The land thus delineated, 20 million acres (81,000 km2), encompassed an area half as large as the present state of Kentucky. Henderson's purchase was in violation of North Carolina and Virginia law, as well as the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited private purchase of American Indian land. Henderson may have mistakenly believed that a newer British legal opinion had made such land purchases legal.

All of present-day Tennessee was once recognized as Washington County, North Carolina. Created in 1777 from the western areas of Burke and Wilkes Counties, Washington County had as a precursor a Washington District of 1775–76, which was the first political entity named for the Commander-in-Chief of American forces in the Revolution.

In 1779, Hadley W. and Hannah W. brought a group of settlers from upper East Tennessee via Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road. Hadley and Hannah later built an iron plantation in Cumberland Furnace. A year later, John Donelson led a group of flat boats up the Cumberland River bound for the French trading settlement, French Lick (or Big Lick), that later became Nashville. When the boats reached Red Paint Hill, Moses Renfroe, Joseph Renfroe, and Solomon Turpin, along with their families, branched off onto the Red River. They traveled to the mouth of Parson's Creek, near Port Royal, and went ashore to settle down. Clarksville was designated as a town to be settled in part by soldiers from the disbanded Continental Army that served under General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.

At the end of the war, the federal government lacked sufficient funds to repay the soldiers, so the Legislature of North Carolina, in 1790, designated the lands to the west of the state line as federal lands that could be used in the land grant program. Since the area of Clarksville had been surveyed and sectioned into plots, it was identified as a territory deemed ready for settlement. The land was available to be settled by the families of eligible soldiers as repayment of service to their country. On January 16, 1784, John Armstrong filed notice with the Legislature of North Carolina to create the town of Clarksville, named after General George Rogers Clark.

Even before it was officially designated a town, lots had been sold. In October 1785, Col. Robert Weakley laid off the town of Clarksville for Martin Armstrong and Col. Montgomery, and Weakley had the choice of lots for his services. He selected Lot #20 at the northeast corner of Spring and Main Streets. The town consisted of 20 'squares' of 140 lots and 44 out lots. The original Court House was on Lot #93, on the north side of Franklin Street between Front and Second Street. The Public Spring was on Lot #74, on the northeast corner of Spring and Commerce Streets. Weakley built the first cabin there in January 1786, and about February or March, Col. Montgomery came there and had a cabin built, which was the second house in Clarksville.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 100.3 square miles (260 km2), of which 99.6 square miles (258 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (0.7%) is water.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 95.5 square miles (247 km2), of which 94.9 square miles (246 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (0.71%) is covered by water.

Clarksville is located on the northwest edge of the Highland Rim, which surrounds the Nashville Basin, and is 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Nashville.

Clarksville sits where the Fletchers Fork Red River of the Cumberland meets the Little West Fork Red River of the Cumberland, the Little West Fork Red River of the Cumberland meets the West Fork Red River of the Cumberland, the West Fork Red River of the Cumberland meets the main Red River of the Cumberland, and the Red River of the Cumberland meets the Cumberland River.

Fort Campbell North is a census-designated place (CDP) in Christian County, Kentucky. It contains most of the housing for the Fort Campbell Army base. The population was 14,338 at the 2000 census. Fort Campbell North is part of the Clarksville, TN–KY Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Arts & culture

Roxy Theatre, located in downtown Clarksville

F&M Bank Arena, Home of Austin Peay Men's and Women's Basketball

Governor's Square Mall

Clarksville City Arboretum

Ringgold Mill, located in North Clarksville

Customs House Museum and Cultural Center, located in downtown Clarksville, second largest general museum in Tennessee

L & N Train Station, restored downtown train station

Wilma Rudolph, statue honoring one of America's most outstanding Olympic athletes

Dunbar Cave

Fortera Stadium, home of Austin Peay Football

Cumberland River

Liberty Park and Marina

Fort Defiance, Civil War fort overlooking the Cumberland River

Economy

Notable industrial employers in Clarksville include:

Amazon, Distribution Center

American Standard

Bridgestone Metalpha USA

Convergys Corporation

FedEx, Distribution Center

Fort Campbell

Google

Hankook

Jostens, printing and publishing division

LG

SPX Corporation, metal forge division

Trane, Clarksville's largest private employer

Education

Austin Peay State University

Daymar Institute

Nashville State Community College

North Tennessee Bible Institute

The city consolidated its school system with that of the county, forming the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System. It operates a total of 39 public schools to serve about 37,666 students, including eight high schools, seven middle schools, 24 elementary schools, and one magnet school for K–5, in addition to Middle College on the campus of Austin Peay State University.

Public high schools (grades 9–12) in Clarksville-Montgomery County:

Clarksville High School (1,530 students)

Kenwood High School (1,302 students)

Kirkwood High School (1,009 students)

Montgomery Central High School (1,015 students)

Northeast High School (1,341 students)

Northwest High School (1,426 students)

Rossview High School (1,584 students)

West Creek High School (1,647 students)

Most of the city is in the Clarksville-Montgomery system. Portions in Fort Campbell are instead use the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) as their school district.

Private schools in Clarksville-Montgomery County include:

Clarksville Academy (students: 613; ST; grades: PK–12)

Clarksville Christian School (students: 580; grades: PK–12)