Bell Buckle is a town in

Bedford County, Tennessee Bedford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,237. Its county seat is Shelbyville. Bedford County comprises the Shelbyville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also in ...

, United States. The population was 410 at the 2020 census. The downtown area is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as the Bell Buckle Historic District.

History

The origin of the town's unusual name is not known. According to the local

chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

, one story says that one of the first white men to travel through the area found a tree with carvings of a

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...

and a

buckle A buckle or clasp is a device used for fastening two loose ends, with one end attached to it and the other held by a catch in a secure but adjustable manner. Often taken for granted, the invention of the buckle was indispensable in securing two ...

, possibly carved by Indians to warn white settlers away, or possibly carved by

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

s to mark the area as good

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

. Another form of the legend holds that a bell and buckle were tied around a tree. In any case, the nearby creek was named Bell Buckle Creek, and the town later took the name of the creek.Local History
an

on Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce website (accessed December 19, 2007). The Bell Buckle area was settled in the early 19th century. A bustling town grew up after the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad came through the area in 1852. A railroad depot was built in 1853, and the town was incorporated in 1856. Bell Buckle had its period of greatest prosperity after about 1870, becoming the major stockyard between

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

and growing to a population of more than 1,000. The town name was spelled Belle Buckle until the early 1900s, as that was the spelling by the post office and on cancellation devices (1896), by the

Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a Rail transport company, railway company that operated in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It began as the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, ...

on its 1903 route map, and on the sign on an undated photo of the train station. It is not known exactly when the spelling was changed to Bell Buckle, but it was sometime before 1935 when Tennessee started issuing delayed birth certificates for residents who needed them to apply for Social Security. In June 1940, US Army maneuvers centered on the area. A tank of General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Alli ...

's Second Armored Division ran into the two-story town hall, bringing the building down.

Geography

Bell Buckle is located in northeastern Bedford County at (35.590749, -86.354047). Tennessee State Routes 82 and

269 Year 269 ( CCLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Paternus (or, less frequently, year 1022 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 269 for this ...

cross at the town's center. TN 82 leads east to Beechgrove and

Interstate 24 Interstate 24 (I-24) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from I-57, south of Marion, Illinois, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at I-75. It travels through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennesse ...

, and west to

U.S. Route 231 U.S. Route 231 (US 231) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway System, U.S highway that is a parallel route of U.S. Route 31, US 31. It runs for from St. John, Indiana, St. John, Indiana, at U.S. Route 41 in Indiana, US&nbs ...

at a point north of Shelbyville, the county seat. TN 269 leads south to Wartrace and north to U.S. 231 near Christiana. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, Bell Buckle has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 391 people, 167 households, and 105 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 183 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.95%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and 2.05%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

. There were 167 households, out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.1% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.91. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.7% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $27,188, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $30,417 versus $15,556 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $16,235. About 8.2% of families and 15.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 18.3% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

The 2010

showed the population of Bell Buckle to have risen to 500 people, with a total population growth of 27.9%. The census documented 62.8% of the population as being 18 years of age or above, and 37.2% as under 18. The racial makeup of the town was 84.8% White, 8.2% Asian, 3.2% Hispanic, 2.8% African American and 1% from two or more races. The 2010 census documented 164 housing units, 87.2% of which were occupied, and 12.8% were vacant.

Sightseeing and tourism

Bell Buckle is noted for the many preserved and restored

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

homes, shops, and churches located in and around downtown. Bell Buckle is a center for

antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

quilt A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of padding, batting or w ...

s, and various handmade crafts. The town hosts two yearly festivals: the

RC Cola RC Cola (short for Royal Crown Cola) is a carbonated cola beverage owned in the United States by Keurig Dr Pepper and internationally by RC Global Beverages, Inc. History In 1901, the Cole-Hampton-Hatcher Grocery Store was established in Col ...

& Moon Pie festival and the Webb School Arts & Crafts Fair. A member of Tennessee Backroads, Bell Buckle has the distinction of being the smallest town in Tennessee to be a

Tree City USA The Arbor Day Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 500 million trees in neighborhoods, communitie ...

. Bell Buckle is the home of The Webb School (which relocated from Culleoka in 1886), a college preparatory boarding and

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

which plays an integral part in the ambience of the town.

Notable residents

Molly Bee Molly Bee (born Mollie Gene Beachboard; August 18, 1939 – February 7, 2009), was an American country music singer and guitarist famous for her 1952 recording of the early perennial " I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and as Pinky Lee's sidekick ...

, country music singer – On January 11, 1975, on ''

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired from 1969 to 1993, and on TNN from 1996 to 1997. Reruns of the series were broadcast on ...

'',

saluted her home town of Bell Buckle, population 393. * Keon Johnson, basketball player – Johnson was born in nearby Shelbyville and played basketball for The Webb School in Bell Buckle and played one season with the University of Tennessee Volunteers prior to being drafted by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

with the 21st pick of the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

. The Knicks subsequently traded Johnson to the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

, with whom he made his NBA debut during the 2021–22 season. * Gary " Lazarus Lake" Cantrell, designer and director of endurance races, including

Barkley Marathons The Barkley Marathons is an ultramarathon Trail racing, trail race held each year in Frozen Head State Park in Morgan County, Tennessee, United States. Described as "The Race That Eats Its Young", it is known for its extreme difficulty, purposefu ...

and Big's Backyard Ultra. * Holly Finley, professional disc golfer and model is from Bell Buckle.Holly Finley #51277 , Professional Disc Golf Association. https://www.pdga.com/player/51277/

References

External links

Town of Bell Buckle official websiteBell Buckle Chamber of CommerceMunicipal Technical Advisory Service entry for Bell Buckle
— information on local government, elections, and link to charter
The Webb School
{{authority control Towns in Bedford County, Tennessee Towns in Tennessee Populated places established in 1853 1853 establishments in Tennessee