Jackson, Tennessee

Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located 70 miles (110 km) east of Memphis and 130 miles (210 km) southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, Madison County's largest city, and the second-largest city in West Tennessee after Memphis. It is home to the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for West Tennessee, as Jackson was the major city in the west when the court was established in 1834.

In the antebellum era, Jackson was the market city for an agricultural area based on cultivation of cotton, the major commodity crop. Beginning in 1851, the city became a hub of railroad systems ultimately connecting to major markets in the north and south, as well as east and west. This was key to its development, attracting trade and many workers on the railroads in the late 19th century with the construction of railroads after the American Civil War. Through the 1960s, the city was served by 15 passenger trains daily, but industry restructuring reduced such service and caused the loss of jobs. The economy has adjusted to new businesses, with major manufacturing in the area.

History of Jackson

This area was occupied by the historic Chickasaw people at the time of European encounter. They were pushed out by European-American settlers under various treaties with the United States, in actions authorized by the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and ratified by the US Senate.

European-American settlement of Jackson began along the Forked Deer River before 1820, primarily by migrants from eastern areas of the Upper South, such as Virginia and Kentucky. Originally named Alexandria, the city was renamed in 1822 to honor General Andrew Jackson, a hero of the War of 1812. He was later elected as President of the United States.

The City of Jackson was founded by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly, passed in 1821, entitled an "act to establish a seat of justice for Henry, Carroll, Henderson, and Madison Counties." The act required 50 acres (20 ha) of land to be deeded to the commissioners. The commissioners chosen by the Legislature were Sterling Brewer and James Fentress. The places considered for the seat of justice were Alexandria, Golden's Station, and Jackson. The larger portion of the settlers at that time were living on Cotton Grove Road, and as Jackson was closer to them than either of the other settlements, this settlement was determined to be the more suitable site for the seat of justice.

At the time of the second Tennessee State Constitution in 1834, when the Tennessee Supreme Court was established, Memphis had not yet been developed. The county seat of Jackson was the most significant city in West Tennessee and this was designated as a site for the State Supreme Court in this part of the state.

The city of Jackson did not establish public elections until 1837, with a Board of Aldermen elected at-large. From 1854 to 1915, Jackson had a Board of Aldermen of eight members elected from four districts, each with two members elected at-large. Free people of color and freedmen were not allowed to vote in the state until after passage of federal constitutional amendments following the Civil War that granted them citizenship and suffrage.

This area was initially developed for agricultural purposes, especially cotton plantations for producing the chief commodity crop of the Mississippi Valley and Deep South. Cotton plantations were dependent on the labor of slaves, and thousands were brought into the area as it was developed. As county seat, Jackson was a trading town and retail center for surrounding agricultural areas.

But developing as a railroad hub of several lines was most important to Jackson's industrial and population growth, from 1852 on for the next hundred years.

In 1862, Tennessee came under the control of Union forces and was occupied until General Ulysses S. Grant decided to concentrate his efforts to the South. Between December 11, 1862, and January 1, 1863, an engagement at Jackson occurred during Confederate Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest's expedition into West Tennessee. Forrest wanted to disrupt the rail supply line to Grant's army, which was campaigning along the route of the Mississippi Central Railroad. If Forrest destroyed the Mobile & Ohio Railroad running south from Columbus, Kentucky through Jackson, Grant would have to curtail or halt his operations altogether.

Forrest's 2,100-man cavalry brigade crossed the Tennessee River on December 17. Grant ordered a soldier concentration at Jackson under Brigadier General Jeremiah C. Sullivan and sent a cavalry force under Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. Forrest's command defeated the Union cavalry in Lexington, Tennessee on December 18. As Forrest continued his advance the following day, Sullivan ordered Colonel Adolph Englemann to take a small force northeast of Jackson.

At Old Salem Cemetery, acting on the defensive, Englemann's two infantry regiments repulsed a Confederate mounted attack, then withdrew a mile closer to the city. The fight amounted to no more than a feint and show of force intended to hold Jackson's Union defenders in position, while two mounted Confederate columns destroyed railroad track to both the north and south of the town, then returned. Forrest withdrew from the Jackson area to attack Trenton and Humboldt after this mission was accomplished.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.5 square miles (128 km2), all land.

Jackson has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) within the Köppen climate classification system, with hot, humid summers and cool winters.

Arts & culture

Jackson was the site of the now permanently closed International Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame Museum, which recognized the contributions of Tennessee musicians to this genre.

In 1956, the city of Jackson purchased the Chester Street home of famed locomotive engineer, Casey Jones, to turn into a museum and tourist attraction. The museum opened to the public on April 30, and Governor Frank Clement was the main speaker for the ceremony. In 1978, a proposal to move the home and museum north to a plot of land next to Interstate 40 was approved, though not without much debate. The building was moved that winter.

As of April 2022, a large portion of the historic Downtown area has been officially designated by the Jackson City Council as the Arts District, and is home to the Ned R. McWherter West Tennessee Cultural Arts Center, known locally as "The Ned," as well as The Carnegie Center for Arts and History. Some of the art that is displayed in the area includes murals, performance art shows, galleries, live concerts, and theatrical/ballet productions. The district is also home to a number of small shops.

Built in 1973, the Carl Perkins Civic Center is a multi purpose events facility with seating for 2,200. It is named for singer Carl Perkins. The center is located on the south side of the downtown square.

Parks & recreation

Jackson hosts the Miss Tennessee Volunteer Pageant and the Miss Volunteer America Pageant.

West Tennessee Healthcare Sportsplex is a travel baseball and softball complex completed in 2007.

A tennis complex in northern Jackson hosts the City Closed tennis tournament.

Jackson is home to the Rusty's TV & Movie Car Museum, which hosts a collection of cars that have been shown in TV and film, including the green Mitsubishi Eclipse driven by Paul Walker in the original "Fast and Furious."

Education

Jackson State Community College

Lane College

Union University

University of Memphis at Lambuth

University of Tennessee at Martin – Jackson Center

The following is near the city but in an unincorporated area:

Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Jackson

K-12 public schools in the city and county are operated by the consolidated Jackson-Madison County School System. High schools include:

Jackson Central-Merry Early College High School

Liberty Technology Magnet High School

Madison Academic Magnet High School

North Side High School

South Side High School

Specialist schools operated by the State of Tennessee include:

West Tennessee School for the Deaf

Private schools include:

Jackson Christian School

Trinity Christian Academy

University School of Jackson

Notable people

Jessi Alexander, singer/songwriter

Allison Alderson, former Miss Tennessee

Monroe Dunaway Anderson, born in Jackson, was a cotton trader and capitalist, whose financial endowment helped found the Anderson, Clayton & Company in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1904, the M. D. Anderson Foundation in Houston, Texas and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston

Micajah Autry, hero of The Alamo, practiced law in Jackson from 1831 to 1835

Big Maybelle, R & B singer

Dick Davis, football player

Gene Evans, actor, relocated to Jackson after appearing in the film Walking Tall

Steve Fossett, aviator, first man to fly solo non-stop around the world in a hot air balloon, born in Jackson

Greg Goff, head baseball coach at Purdue

Jabari Greer, football player

Hayes Nance, orthodontist

Thomas Harris, author noted for his bestseller The Silence of the Lambs, born in Jackson

Sylvester Hicks, NFL player

W. S. Holland, drummer for Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash

Joe Hunter, pianist, one of The Funk Brothers studio band, played on many Motown hits in the 1960s

Adam Huntsman, lawyer and politician, defeated David Crockett for Congress in 1835

Luther Ingram, singer

Casey Jones, Illinois Central Railroad engineer who, before colliding with a stalled freight train near Vaughan, Mississippi, told his fireman to jump to safety; Jones died at the throttle and saved the lives of all the passengers