Jacks Creek (or Jack's Creek) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, th ...

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 ...

, United States.

History

The area was settled in the 1820s.Henderson/Chester County Chamber of Commerce website
, accessed September 13, 2008 There are multiple legends about the source of the name of the creek running through the community which bears its name. They agree only in that the "Jack" after whom it was named was a young

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 ensl ...

slave boy, who either drowned in the creek, discovered the excellence of its water, or was captured by Indians on its banks. There were two minor incidents near Jacks Creek during 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 ...

: a skirmish one mile north of town, on September 12, 1863; and a one-day battle one mile south of town involving a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

unit under Nathan Bedford Forrest and

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

troops out of

Corinth, Mississippi Corinth is a city in and the county seat of Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,573 at the 2010 census. Its ZIP codes are 38834 and 38835. It lies on the state line with Tennessee. History Corinth was founded i ...

, on December 23, 1863. In 1937 the community became the site of the Jack's Creek Intermediate Landing Field, an airport on the flight line between Nashville and

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

that was designated as an emergency landing field. At one time it was the second largest landing field in the United States, with two runways, a beacon light and a radio control tower. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the airfield was used by the

U.S. Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

as a practice site.

Geography

The community is concentrated around the intersection

Tennessee State Route 100 State Route 100 (SR 100) is a west–east state highway in both West Tennessee and Middle Tennessee that connects Whiteville with Nashville. It is long. Route description Hardeman County SR 100 begins as a primary highway in West Tenn ...

and Tennessee State Route 22A, east of

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

and south of Lexington. It has an elevation of 515 ft. Its zip code is 38347.

Demographics

Today

Jacks Creek is home to the Jacks Creek Church of Christ and Jacks Creek Elementary School. Jacks Creek also has its own Post Office as well as Jacks Creek Barbecue Restaurant.

Notable people

* Stephen L. Ross, farmer who served in the Tennessee General Assembly, lived here *

John Marshall Stone John Marshall Stone (April 30, 1830March 26, 1900) was an American politician from Mississippi. A Democrat, he served longer as governor of that state than anyone else, from 1876 to 1882 and again from 1890 to 1896. He approved a new constitut ...

made his home here before moving in 1855 to

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, where he eventually became governor of that state

References

External links

A Brief History of Chester County
Unincorporated communities in Chester County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Tennessee Jackson metropolitan area, Tennessee {{ChesterCountyTN-geo-stub