Haywood County, Tennessee
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Haywood County is a
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
located in the U.S. state of
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, in the region known as
West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions (Tennessee), Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee River, Tennessee and Miss ...
. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,864. Its
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
and largest city is Brownsville. It is one of only two remaining counties in Tennessee, along with Shelby County, with a majority African-American population.


History

Haywood County was created from part of Madison County in 1823–24, and was named for Tennessee judge and historian John Haywood. The state legislature designated Brownsville as the county seat. Haywood County was later reduced in size, when both
Lauderdale Lauderdale is the valley of the Leader Water (a tributary of the Tweed) in the Scottish Borders. It contains the town of Lauder, as well as Earlston. The valley is traversed from end to end by the A68 trunk road, which runs from Darlington to E ...
and
Crockett Crockett may refer to: People and fictional characters *Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player *Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator *C ...
counties were created from its territory. For much of the county's history, agriculture, especially growing cotton as a commodity, was the basis of the local economy, as it was throughout western Tennessee, which was in the Mississippi Valley. Before the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, this was accomplished by a
plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
system based on the use of enslaved African-American workers. After
Emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...
in 1865, many planters hired
freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...
as
tenant farmers A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...
and
sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...
to produce the cotton crops, which were still important to the state. The largely rural county continues to have a majority-black population. Whites lynched three African Americans in the county, most at the county seat of Brownsville, in the period following Reconstruction and into the early 20th century.''Lynching in America/ Supplement: Lynchings by County''
, Equal Justice Initiative, 2015, p. 6
On June 20, 1940, Elbert Williams, an African American, was killed in Brownsville for "attempting to qualify to vote" and "an interest in Negro affairs."Jessie P. Guzzman & W. Hardin Hughes, “Lynching-Crime,” ''Negro Year Book: A Review of Events Affecting Negro Life, 1944-1946'', 1947; part of National Humanities Center, ''The Making of African American Identity, Vol. III, 1917-1968''; accessed 04 June 2018
/ref> He had organized a local chapter of the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
(
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
). He was the last recorded lynching victim in the state. Kathy Bennett, "Lynching"
''Tennessee Encyclopedia'', 2017/updated 2018
Like other southern states, Tennessee had raised barriers at the turn of the century to voter registration to disenfranchise blacks. Whites maintained the political exclusion, sometimes with violence. Williams was murdered and his body was thrown into the
Hatchie River The Hatchie River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 3, 2011 river in northern Mississippi and southwestern Tennessee. It is of considerable geographic, cultural, a ...
. It was later recovered.


Geography

According to the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. Haywood County is situated on the southeastern edge of the
New Madrid Seismic Zone The New Madrid Seismic Zone (), sometimes called the New Madrid Fault Line, is a major seismic zone and a prolific source of intraplate earthquakes (earthquakes within a tectonic plate) in the Southern and Midwestern United States, stretching t ...
, an area with a high earthquake risk.


Adjacent counties

*
Crockett County Crockett County is the name of two counties in the United States, both named for frontiersman and politician Davy Crockett: * Crockett County, Tennessee * Crockett County, Texas Crockett County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in th ...
(north) * Madison County (east) * Hardeman County (southeast) * Fayette County (south) * Tipton County (west) * Lauderdale County (northwest)


National protected area

* Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge


Demographics

From 1940 to 1970, the county population declined. Many Black Americans left after confrontations and the murder of Elbert Williams in 1940 related to Black attempts to register to vote. In addition, mechanization of agriculture reduced the need for farm workers, and other African Americans left as part of the second wave of the Great Migration. A total of more than five million migrated out of the south during those decades, moving especially to the West Coast for the expanding defense industry, and to industrial cities for work opportunities.


2020 census

As of the
2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 17,864 people, 7,181 households, and 4,727 families residing in the county.


2010 census

As of the
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, there were 18,787 people living in the county. 50.4% were Black or African American, 45.9%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.2% Native American, 0.1%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 2.5% of some other race and 0.9% of two or more races. 3.8% were
Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...
(of any race).


2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,797 people, 7,558 households, and 5,419 families living in the county. The population density was 37 people per square mile (14/km2). There were 8,086 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile (6/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 51.05%
Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
or
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 46.73%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.12% Native American, 0.09%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.05%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 1.38% from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.58% from two or more races. 2.65% of the population were
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race. Haywood and Shelby Counties are the only counties in Tennessee with a black majority. There were 7,558 households, out of which 33.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.80% were married couples living together, 22.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.30% were non-families. 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.09. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.20% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 13.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 87.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $27,671, and the median income for a family was $32,597. Males had a median income of $27,333 versus $21,361 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,669. About 16.30% of families and 19.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.00% of those under age 18 and 25.70% of those age 65 or over.


Economy

The largest industry in Haywood County is agriculture. Haywood County grows more cotton that any other county in Tennessee and produced 189,000 bales in 2003 on . Soybeans were the county's #2 crop, followed by corn. Agriculture and agri-related businesses contributed more than $130,000 million to the Haywood County economy in 2004. By 2017, grains, oilseeds, drybeans, drypeas and tobacco drew the most income, but Haywood country still grew the most cotton in the state. In 2009, under the leadership of Tennessee Governor
Phil Bredesen Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in 20 ...
and Haywood County Mayor Franklin Smith, a tract in southwestern Haywood County near Stanton was designated for a state-supported industrial "megasite," intended for a large-scale industrial or business development such as an automobile assembly plant. In September 2009, Tennessee's State Building Commission authorized spending of $40 million for purchase of the land. On September 27, 2021, it was announced that
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
and SK Innovation would construct a complex at the megasite called "
Blue Oval City Blue Oval City is a planned automotive assembly complex near Stanton, Tennessee that will be operated by Ford Motor Company and SK Innovation, and is expected to be operational in 2025. The facility takes its name from Ford's logo, and will prim ...
" to manufacture
electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
s and batteries. The facility, which is expected to be operational in 2025, will cost approximately $5.6 billion, making it the most expensive single investment in state history, and employ approximately 5,700.


Communities


City

* Brownsville (county seat)


Town

* Stanton


Unincorporated communities

* Belle Eagle * Christmasville * Dancyville * Nutbush


Notable residents

One of Haywood County's most notable residents was
Sleepy John Estes John Adam Estes (January 25, 1899 or 1900June 5, 1977),
known as Sleepy John Estes, was an Am ...
, a
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
guitarist songwriter and vocalist. Born in 1899 or 1904 in
Ripley, Tennessee Ripley is a city in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 8,445 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County. Geography Ripley is located at (35.743115, −89.533872). According to the United States ...
, he lived most of his life in Brownsville.Biography at 7digital.com from the Encyclopedia of Popular Music – accessed February 2008
/ref> He died on June 5, 1977, in Brownsville.Allaboutjazz.com birth and death details
Sleepy John is buried at Elam Baptist Church Cemetery in Durhamville, Lauderdale County. Other notable county residents include: *
Tony Delk Tony Lorenzo Delk (born January 28, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player and college assistant coach. He last served as an assistant coach for the New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball team. During his playing days, he w ...
, a first round
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
draft pick spent his adolescent years in Brownsville. *
Hambone Willie Newbern William "Hambone Willie" Newbern (probably 1901 – April 15, 1965) was an American guitar-playing country blues musician. Life and career Few details are known of his life. He is believed to have been born in Haywood County, Tennessee, clos ...
,
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
musician from the Brownsville area * Singer
Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...
spent her childhood in Nutbush, Haywood County. Her song "
Nutbush City Limits "Nutbush City Limits" is a semi-autobiographical song written by Tina Turner which commemorates her rural hometown of Nutbush in Haywood County, Tennessee, United States. Originally released as a single on United Artists Records in August 19 ...
" was based off by the town. *
Elbert Williams Elbert Williams (October 15, 1908 – June 20, 1940) was an African-American civil rights leader from Brownsville, Tennessee who was killed by unknown persons.Bond, J. Z. (2011). Race, place, and family: Narratives of the civil rights movement i ...
, voting rights activist


Politics

In presidential elections, Haywood County trends Democratic; in the 2020 election it was one of only three counties (along with
Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...
and Shelby) to vote for Democrat Joe Biden over Republican
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
. However, Trump came the closest a Republican has gotten to winning the county in 2020, losing by 9 percent, since President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
lost by slightly over 4 percent in 1988.
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
is the last Republican presidential candidate to carry the county, winning it in his 1972 reelection bid.


See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Haywood County, Tennessee


Further reading

* * *Nunn, Emma (2017).
Haywood Country
" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia''. Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society.


References


External links


Chamber of Commerce site

Haywood County, TNGenWeb
– free genealogy resources for the county *

{{Coord, 35.58, -89.29, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TN_source:UScensus1990 1823 establishments in Tennessee Populated places established in 1823 Black Belt (U.S. region) Majority-minority counties in Tennessee West Tennessee