Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital and largest city, Nashville, as well as Clarksville, the state's fifth largest city, and

Murfreesboro Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

, the state's sixth largest city and largest suburb of Nashville. The Nashville metropolitan area, located entirely within the region, is the most populous

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

in the state, and the Clarksville metropolitan area is the state's sixth most populous. Middle Tennessee is both the largest, in terms of land area, and the most populous of the state's three Grand Divisions. Geographically, Middle Tennessee is composed of the

Highland Rim The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee surrounding the Central Basin. Nashville is largely surrounded by higher terrain in all directions. Geologically, the Central Basin is a dome. The Highland Rim is a cuesta surro ...

, which completely surrounds the

Nashville Basin The Nashville Basin, also known as the Central Basin, is a term often used to describe the area surrounding Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in which Nashville is located. The Central Basin was caused by an uplifting which produced a dome known as the ...

. The Cumberland Plateau is located in the eastern part of the region. Culturally, Middle Tennessee is considered part of the Upland South. Commodity crops such as

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

were cultivated by migrant settlers in the region in the antebellum era, who were largely dependent on the labor of enslaved African Americans. In addition, planters bred and trained livestock, such as the world-famous Tennessee Walking Horse, which was developed as a breed in the region during this time. Middle Tennessee was an extremely crucial region during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. Tennessee was occupied by Federal troops from 1862 through the end of the war. Many battles and campaigns were waged by Confederates in this region, especially in efforts to control the major rivers. Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest conducted extensive raids through this area, destroying many Union assets in the 1864 Battle of Johnsonville. In the 20th century, the '' Grand Ole Opry'' was established in Nashville, enhancing the city as the home of

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. Since the early 1970s, the region has been transformed by the entry of many new economic sectors, including automotive manufacturing, healthcare, finance, technology, tourism, and professional services. Both the Nashville and Clarksville metropolitan areas are among the fastest-growing regions in the nation.

History

Native Americans

Throughout the past 10,000 years, a number of different

Native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

peoples are believed to have inhabited what is now Middle Tennessee. The region is believed to have been rich in game animals favored by

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

hunter-gatherers. During the Mississippian period (1000-1600 AD), Native Americans established chiefdoms and constructed numerous earthwork mounds in the region, such as Mound Bottom in

Cheatham County Cheatham County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,072. Its county seat is Ashland City. Cheatham County is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, T ...

and the Castalian Springs site in Sumner County. By the late 17th century, for unknown reasons, there were few Native Americans left in Middle Tennessee, but the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

and the Chickasaw claimed the region as their hunting grounds. Natives that had occupied what is now Middle Tennessee prior to this time may have died as a result of new infectious diseases indirectly introduced by European explorers.

Exploration and colonization

The first Europeans to reach what is now Middle Tennessee were probably an expedition in 1540-1541 led by Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto. By the late 17th century, the French had begun to explore the Cumberland River valley in Middle Tennessee. In 1714, a group of French traders constructed a trading post at a site along the Cumberland River in modern-day Nashville that became known as French Lick. These settlers quickly established an extensive fur trading network with the local Native Americans, but by the 1740s the settlement had largely been abandoned. In the 1750s and 1760s, longhunters from Virginia explored much of Middle Tennessee, especially the Cumberland Plateau. In 1769, French-born fur trader Timothy Demonbreun established residence along the Cumberland River in present-day Nashville. In 1779, James Robertson and

John Donelson John Donelson (1718–1785) was an American frontiersman, ironmaster, politician, city planner, and explorer. After founding and operating what became Washington Iron Furnace in Franklin County, Virginia for several years, he moved with his family ...

led two groups of settlers from the Washington District in what is now East Tennessee to the French Lick. These settlers constructed Fort Nashborough, which they named for Francis Nash, a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

of the Continental Army during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The next year, the settlers signed the

Cumberland Compact {{Short description, 1780 document establishing the law of settlers in present-day Tennessee The Cumberland Compact was both based on the earlier Articles of the Watauga Association composed at present day Elizabethton, Tennessee and is a foundat ...

, which established the Cumberland Association, a representative form of government based on the government known as the Watauga Association that had been established by the settlers of East Tennessee. Fort Nashborough later developed as the city of Nashville, and a number of other settlements were established nearby in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The first settlements in Middle Tennessee became known as the Cumberland Settlements. In 1790, what is now Tennessee became the Southwest Territory, and the settlements in Middle Tennessee were organized into the Mero District, named after Spanish territorial governor Esteban Rodríguez Miró. In 1795, a survey conducted by the territorial legislature found that the majority of residents of Middle Tennessee were opposed to statehood, while the majority of residents of East Tennessee, of which there were approximately three times more, were in favor. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state the following year. During the antebellum era, a

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

-based agrarian economy took hold in Middle Tennessee, especially in the fertile soils of the

. Planters primarily grew

in the Nashville Basin, and

and corn inwere cultivated the

. By

1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts ...

, enslaved African Americans composed about 29% of the population of Middle Tennessee. After the election of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

that year, a majority of Middle Tennesseans voted against the state's ordinance of

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

in February 1861. Many of these white voters supported the continuation of slavery, but were skeptical about leaving the Union.

Civil War and Reconstruction

Kurz and Allison - Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864

Following the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, which started 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 polici ...

, and President Lincoln's call to raise federal troops in response, many Middle Tennesseans changed their opinions about secession. In June 1861, Middle Tennessee voted in favor of Tennessee's second ordnance of secession, which resulted in Tennessee joining the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

(CSA). A number of crucial campaigns and battles of the Civil War took place in Middle Tennessee. General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...

and the U.S. Navy captured control of the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers in February 1862 at the battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, essentially establishing Union control of Middle Tennessee. Union troops occupied the state for the duration of the war. Union strength in the area, however, was tested by a series of Confederate offensives beginning in the summer of 1862, which culminated in Union General William Rosecrans's Army of the Cumberland routing Confederate General

Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in the Wester ...

's Army of Tennessee at the Battle of Stones River in

in December 1862 and January 1863. This was one of the bloodiest battles of the entire war. The next summer, Rosecrans's Tullahoma campaign forced Bragg's remaining troops in Middle Tennessee to flee to Chattanooga with little fighting. The last major battles in Middle Tennessee occurred during the

Franklin–Nashville campaign The Franklin–Nashville campaign, also known as Hood's Tennessee campaign, was a series of battles in the Western Theater, conducted from September 18 to December 27, 1864, in Alabama, Tennessee, and northwestern Georgia during the American C ...

in the fall of 1864, when the Army of Tennessee under the command of General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully tried to lure Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, who was conducting the Atlanta campaign in Georgia, back into the region. Hood was defeated at the Battle of Franklin in November, then completely dispersed from the state by General George Thomas at the Battle of Nashville the following month. The United States Colored Troops (USCT) played a major role in this campaign. During

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

, Middle Tennessee's economy fell into a state of disrepair. The Ku Klux Klan was formed in Pulaski in December 1865 as a vigilante organization to advance the interests of former Confederates, including maintenance of

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White ...

. In the years following the Civil War, African Americans and their White allies in Middle Tennessee were targeted with acts of violence by former Confederates. Many freedmen (former slaves) became

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 ...

following the end of slavery, and were often disadvantaged by the planters' recordkeeping and contracts.

Late 19th and earlier 20th century

The post-Reconstruction era in Middle Tennessee was characterized by continued White violence against African Americans, especially related to elections, and many were lynched in a cycle often related to economic tensions and settlement of finances after harvest. In the late 19th century, African Americans began fleeing Middle Tennessee to booming industrial cities in the Northeast and Midwest. This mass migration, which occurred in every Southern state and accelerated between 1915 and 1930, became known as the first wave of the Great Migration. It continued until 1970. The region's economy continued to be based primarily on agriculture, but coal mining expanded extensively in the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1897, Tennessee celebrated its centennial of statehood one year late with the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition in Nashville. A full-scale replica of the Parthenon in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

was designed by architect

William Crawford Smith William Crawford Smith (November 26, 1837 – February 5, 1899) was an American architect who served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and in the United States Army during the Philippine–American War. He designed m ...

and constructed for the celebration, owing to the city's reputation as the "Athens of the South." The site of the exposition is now a city park called Centennial Park. The worst rail accident in U.S. history occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville when two passenger trains collided head on, killing 101 people and injuring 171. Human error was ultimately deemed to be the main cause of the accident. The '' Grand Ole Opry'' was first broadcast in 1925 in Nashville, and remains the longest-running radio program in the nation. This radio program helped establish Nashville as the national home of

. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Camp Forrest, located in Tullahoma, was one of the U.S. Army's largest training bases. It was also used to house German, Italian, and Japanese prisoners of war. After the war, it was adapted as Arnold Air Force Base. The Vultee Aircraft Corporation operated a plant in Nashville during the war, employing mostly women. On February 25 and 26, 1946, a civil disturbance known as the "Columbia Race Riot" occurred in

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

, instigated by a fight between a Black Navy veteran and a White repair apprentice. Described by the press as the "first major racial confrontation" following World War II, the event garnered national attention. It marked a new era of resistance by African-American veterans and others following their participation in

, which they believed had earned them their full rights as citizens.

Mid 20th century to present

During the early years of the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

, the

Highlander Folk School The Highlander Research and Education Center, formerly known as the Highlander Folk School, is a social justice leadership training school and cultural center in New Market, Tennessee. Founded in 1932 by activist Myles Horton, educator Don West ( ...

near Monteagle provided training to a number of activists in the movement, including Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis, and Rosa Parks. The

Nashville Student Movement The Nashville Student Movement was an organization that challenged racial segregation in Nashville, Tennessee during the Civil Rights Movement. It was created during workshops in nonviolence taught by James Lawson. The students from this or ...

was organized as part of workshops on nonviolence taught by activist James Lawson. Between February and May 1960, the group organized a series of sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, which successfully resulted in the desegregation of facilities in the city. The construction of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

in the latter 20th century facilitated suburbanization in the region and brought new industries to Middle Tennessee. Since 1970, the Nashville and Clarksville metropolitan areas have been two of the fastest-growing regions in the United States. This growth has accelerated since 1990, causing Middle Tennessee to surpass East Tennessee as the most populous of the state's grand divisions in the 2000s. The region's economy has been transformed by new economic sectors, including the automotive, healthcare, banking, technology, and entertainment industries.

Geography

Unlike the geographic designations of regions of most U.S. states, the term "Middle Tennessee" has legal as well as socioeconomic and cultural meaning. Middle Tennessee, comprises one of the state's three Grand Divisions, whose boundaries are defined by state law. The others are East Tennessee and West Tennessee, each with distinctive history, geography, and demographics. The total land area of Middle Tennessee is , representing 41.27 percent of the state's total land area. According to custom, Middle Tennessee consists of the portion of the state east of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...

's western crossing of the state (in which it flows northward back into Tennessee after having flowed through northern

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

) and west of the dividing line between the Eastern and

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

time zones. Exceptions to this rule are that Hardin County, which is bisected by the Tennessee River, is defined by state law to be entirely within West Tennessee and that Bledsoe, Cumberland, and Marion counties are defined as part of East Tennessee despite being in the Central Time Zone. Consequently, Sequatchie County is often considered part of East Tennessee, despite being defined by law as part of Middle Tennessee. Some of the northeastern counties of Middle Tennessee that supported the Union during the

, including Fentress and

Pickett Pickett is an English surname. It is a variant form of Pigott. Notable people with the surname include: * Adarius Pickett (born 1996), American football player * Albert J. Pickett (1810–1858), American historian * Allison Deforest Pickett (190 ...

, are sometimes culturally considered part of East Tennessee. It had strongly supported the Union.

Topography

Most of Middle Tennessee is located within the

and

, both of which are part of the

Interior Low Plateaus The Interior Low Plateaus are a physiographic region in eastern United States. It consists of a diverse landscape that extends from north Alabama across central Tennessee and Kentucky into southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Its natural communi ...

of the larger

Interior Plains The Interior Plains is a vast physiographic region that spreads across the Laurentian craton of central North America, extending along the east flank of the Rocky Mountains from the Gulf Coast region to the Arctic Beaufort Sea. In Canada, it e ...

. The Highland Rim is an elevated plain that which completely surrounds the Nashville Basin, a geological dome. Both regions are characterized by porous

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

bedrock that lies close to the surface of the ground. This results in karst, which forms

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s, underground streams,

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s, and depressions throughout the region. The Highland Rim is often divided into eastern and western halves. The Eastern Highland Rim is relatively flat, with gentle rolling hills, and the eastern Nashville Basin has similar terrain, but is dotted with more distinct hills in places. The western Nashville Basin and Western Highland Rim are more rugged, consisting of irregular knob-like hills separated by steep ravines and crooked stream valleys. The eastern Highland Rim has a higher average elevation, however, than the western portion. The eastern portion of Middle Tennessee consists of the western portion of the Cumberland Plateau, part of the larger

Appalachian Plateau The Appalachian Plateau is a series of rugged dissected plateaus located on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are a mountain range that run down the Eastern United States. The Appalachian Plateau is the nor ...

of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

. The Cumberland Plateau has an average elevation of , and is characterized by flat-topped tablelands separated by long, crooked stream valleys and rocky cliffs with numerous

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

s. Middle Tennessee's highest elevation, at , is found on the Cumberland Plateau in Grundy County.

Counties

Under the most common definition, the following 41 counties are included in Middle Tennessee: *

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst t ...

Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

* Cheatham *

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

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 * ...

* DeKalb * Dickson * Fentress * Franklin * Giles * Grundy * Hickman *

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

* Humphreys * Jackson * Lawrence * Lewis * Lincoln * Macon * Marshall * Maury * Montgomery *

Moore Moore may refer to: People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior officer in the British Army * Moore Powell (died c. 1 ...

* Overton * Perry *

* Putnam *

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Place ...

* Rutherford * Sequatchie * Smith * Stewart * Sumner * Trousdale * Van Buren * Warren * Wayne *

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 ...

* Williamson *

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People *Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson R ...

The Official Tourism Website of Tennessee has a definition of Middle Tennessee slightly different from the legal definition; the website includes Cumberland County while excluding Grundy and Sequatchie counties.

Population and demographics

Middle Tennessee is the largest in area and most populated of the state's three Grand Divisions. At the 2020 census it had 2,883,086 inhabitants living in its 41 counties, an increase of 427,175, or 17.39%, over the 2010 figure of 2,455,911 inhabitants. This represented the region's largest net population increase in history. Its population was 41.72 percent of the state's total. Its

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was , making it the second-most densely populated Grand Division, behind East Tennessee. Prior to the 2010 census, Middle Tennessee was the second-most populous of the state's Grand Divisions, behind East Tennessee.

Cities and metropolitan areas

Nashville, the state's capital and largest city, is located in north-central Middle Tennessee. It has nearly 700,000 residents, and anchors a 13-county metropolitan area with about 2 million residents that has been Tennessee's largest since the early 1990s. Clarksville, with a population of about 170,000, is Middle Tennessee's second-largest city and the fifth-largest statewide. It is located in the northwest corner of the region near Kentucky.

, located about southeast of Nashville, is Middle Tennessee's third-largest city, with more than 150,000 residents. It is also the sixth-largest city in Tennessee and the largest

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

of Nashville. Other important suburbs of Nashville include Franklin, Hendersonville,

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prom ...

, Spring Hill, Gallatin, Mount Juliet,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

, Dickson, and Springfield. In addition to the Nashville and Clarksville metropolitan areas,

Cookeville Cookeville is the county seat and largest city of Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was reported to be 34,842. It is recognized as one of the country's micropolitan areas, or smalle ...

, located in the eastern part of the region, and Shelbyville, located about southeast of Nashville, anchor important population centers in Middle Tennessee. Other important cities in the region include

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, McMinnville, Tullahoma, Winchester, Lewisburg, and Lawrenceburg.

Economy

A diversity of sectors drives Middle Tennessee's economy, including music and entertainment, automotive manufacturing, healthcare, and technology. The region's economy is reportedly one of the fastest growing in the United States.

Music and entertainment

Nicknamed "Music City", Nashville is perhaps best known as the home of country music. The Big Three record labels, as well as numerous independent labels, have offices in Nashville, mostly in the Music Row area. Today, Nashville is the second-largest music recording center, behind

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Nashville's music industry is estimated to have a total economic impact of about $10billion per year and to contribute approximately 56,000 jobs to the Nashville area.

Business

The largest service industry in Middle Tennessee is healthcare. More than 300 healthcare firms are based in the Nashville area, including Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), the world's largest private operator of hospitals, Community Health Systems, the largest provider of general hospital services in the United States, Envision Healthcare,

Vanguard Health Systems Vanguard Health Systems was an operator of hospitals and other medical facilities in five U.S. states: Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Texas. The company's headquarters were located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanguard owned twen ...

, Ardent Health Services, and LifePoint Health. Other important business sectors in the region include banking, finance, insurance, and publishing. The technology sector is also rapidly becoming an important aspect of Middle Tennessee's economy, with such tech giants as

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and Oracle pledging investments in the area in 2018 and 2021, respectively, that are expected to employ thousands. Other major corporations headquartered in Middle Tennessee include Caterpillar Inc. in Nashville, Acadia Senior Living in Franklin, Dollar General in Goodlettsville, Tractor Supply Company and Delek US in Brentwood, and

Cracker Barrel Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., doing business as simply Cracker Barrel, is an American chain of restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company was founded by Dan Evins in 1969. Its first store was in Lebanon, T ...

in Lebanon.

Industry

Automotive manufacturing is the largest manufacturing sector in Middle Tennessee. Nissan operates an assembly plant in

, which is the largest automotive assembly plant in North America, and also operates an engine plant in Decherd. General Motors operates an assembly plant in Spring Hill that was formerly the sole manufacturing facility for Saturn Corporation. Nissan relocated its North American headquarters from California to Franklin in 2005, and

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Bridgestone has its North American corporate headquarters in Nashville, and operates manufacturing facilities throughout the region. Middle Tennessee is home to several automotive parts suppliers scattered throughout the region. Other products manufactured in Middle Tennessee include processed foods, consumer electronics, electrical equipment, computer products, chemicals, and firearms.

Agriculture

Soybeans and

are grown throughout Middle Tennessee, and beef cattle is raised throughout the region. Middle Tennessee is perhaps best known for its

horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

products and for being a prime breeding ground for

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s. Warren County is one of the top producers of nursery products in the nation, and is nicknamed the "Nursery Capitol of the World". The soils of the Nashville Basin reportedly produce grasses which are favorable to horses, and as a result, the region is a top equestrian location. The Tennessee Walking Horse was first bred in the region in the late 18th century and is today one of the most recognized horse breeds in the world. The Cumberland Plateau is a major source of timber, and reportedly ranks as one of the top producers of hardwood in the country.

Energy

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) provides electric power to Middle Tennessee. TVA operates coal and gas fired plants in the region, including the Cumberland Fossil Plant,

Gallatin Fossil Plant The Gallatin Fossil Plant is a coal and natural gas-fired power plant near Gallatin, Tennessee operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The plant was originally entirely a coal-fired plant, constructed in the 1950s, and natural gas un ...

, and the Johnsonville Combustion Turbine Plant, as well as several hydroelectric dams. In addition, TVA also purchases power from dams on the Cumberland River and its tributaries operated by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

. The largest provider of power to the region, however, is the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in northern Alabama, the second-largest nuclear plant in the United States.

Tourism

Tourism plays a major role in Middle Tennessee's economy. Nashville has the largest tourism economy in the state, and contains many attractions, mostly related to its musical heritage. Top attractions in the region include the Grand Ole Opry, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Ryman Auditorium, Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Johnny Cash Museum, National Museum of African American Music, Frist Art Museum, The Parthenon, the Tennessee State Museum, and Jack Daniel's Distillery. A number of antebellum residences are preserved in the region, including The Hermitage, the home of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

, the Belle Meade Plantation, and several homes in Franklin. As well as the President James K. Polk Home & Museum in Columbia. The National Park Service preserves two Civil War battlefields in Middle Tennessee: Fort Donelson National Battlefield near Dover, and Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro. In addition, the

American Battlefield Trust The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization (501(c)(3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land. T ...

operates the Franklin Battlefield. The Natchez Trace Parkway begins in Nashville, and runs through the southwestern part of Middle Tennessee. In addition, the state operates many state parks in Middle Tennessee that preserve historic sites and natural features of the region.

Education

Middle Tennessee has an abundance of institutions of higher learning—most notably Vanderbilt, Belmont, Lipscomb, and

Tennessee State Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenn ...

universities in Nashville and Tennessee Tech University in

. Other prominent universities are Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, the University of the South in Sewanee,

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberlan ...

, and Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, which is the state's second-largest institution of higher learning, just behind the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th sta ...

in Knoxville.

Legal structure

Unlike the geographic designations of regions of most U.S. states, the term Middle Tennessee has legal as well as socioeconomic meaning. Middle Tennessee, West Tennessee, and East Tennessee are the state's three Grand Divisions. According to the Tennessee State Constitution, no more than two of the state supreme court's five justices can come from any one Grand Division. The Supreme Court rotates meeting in courthouses in each of the three divisions. The Supreme Court building for Middle Tennessee is in Nashville. A similar rule applies to certain other commissions and boards, in order to prevent a geographic bias.

Health care

Climate

The weather in Nashville is a decent mix of extremes. Plenty of sunshine in the summer, and crisp, cold air throughout the winter.

Transportation

Roads

Interstate 40 (I-40) traverses Middle Tennessee in an east to west alignment, passing through Nashville and its suburbs to the east. Interstate 65 (I-65) runs north to south through the region, serving Nashville and its suburbs to the north and south, including Brentwood, Franklin, and Spring Hill. Interstate 24 (I-24) enters the region in Clarksville and runs in a southeast to northwest alignment, passing through Nashville and its southeastern suburbs of La Vergne,

, and

, before exiting the region in the southeast. I-440 serves as a bypass around downtown Nashville, and I-840 is an outer bypass around Nashville, passing though suburban counties to the south. Other important freeways in Middle Tennessee include State Route 155 (SR 155/Briley Parkway), a northern bypass around downtown Nashville, Ellington Parkway, part of U.S. Route 31E (US 31E) in Nashville, SR 386 (Vietnam Veterans Boulevard), which serves Nashville's northwestern suburbs of Hendersonville and Gallatin, and SR 396 (Saturn Parkway), which connects Spring Hill and its General Motors plant to I-65. Middle Tennessee also has several other important corridors that are part of the National Highway System (NHS), including

U.S. Routes The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

43, 64, 70S, 79, and

231 Year 231 ( CCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Sallustus (or, less frequently, year 984 ''Ab urbe c ...

, and State Routes 55 and 111.

Nashville International Airport restaurants

Air, rail, and water

Nashville International Airport (BNA) is the region's primary airport and the busiest airport in Tennessee. The

Music City Star The Music City Star, officially known as the WeGo Star, is a commuter rail service running between Nashville and Lebanon, Tennessee. The service uses the existing track of the Nashville and Eastern Railroad. The line stops at seven stations: ...

is a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

service that serves Nashville and its eastern suburbs of Mt. Juliet and Lebanon. CSX Transportation operates most freight trackage in Middle Tennessee, and runs a classification yard in Nashville called Radnor Yard. Both the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers are navigable in Middle Tennessee.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

*
Travel and Discover Middle Tennessee
- the part of the official Tennessee Tourism website dedicated to Middle Tennessee. {{coord, 35.8, -86.6, display=title Regions of Tennessee