![nutbush tennessee](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Nutbush_tennessee.jpg)
Nutbush is a rural
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 ...
in
Haywood County, Tennessee
Haywood County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the region known as West Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 17,864. Its county seat and largest city is B ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, in the
western part of that state, about 50 miles northeast of
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 ...
.
It was established in the early 19th century by European-American settlers who brought along or bought enslaved
African Americans
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 ...
to develop the area's cotton plantations. The African Americans built houses and churches that still stand.
Agriculture is still the most important element of the
rural economy
Rural economics is the study of rural economies. Rural economies include both agricultural and non-agricultural industries, so rural economics has broader concerns than agricultural economics which focus more on food systems. Rural developmen ...
, focused on the
cultivation and processing of
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 perce ...
. This has been the commodity crop since the antebellum years, when its cultivation depended on slave labor. As of 2006, cotton was processed in one cotton-processing plant in the community.
Nutbush is best known as the childhood home of 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 ...
, who described the town in her 1973 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 ...
". In 2002, a segment of
Tennessee State Route 19
State Route 19 (SR 19) or the Tina Turner Highway is a state highway in Haywood and Lauderdale counties in Tennessee, United States.http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/Maps/county/co49.pdf Lauderdale County, TN Highway Maphttp://www.tdot.state.tn.us/Map ...
near Nutbush was named "
Tina Turner Highway
State Route 19 (SR 19) or the Tina Turner Highway is a state highway in Haywood and Lauderdale counties in Tennessee, United States.http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/Maps/county/co49.pdf Lauderdale County, TN Highway Maphttp://www.tdot.state.tn.us/Maps ...
" in her honor.
This is also the home town of
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 ...
pioneer musicians and recording artists
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 ...
and
Sleepy John Estes
John Adam Estes (January 25, 1899 or 1900June 5, 1977),
known as Sleepy John Estes, was an Am ...
.
[''A History of Tennessee Arts'', University of Tennessee Press]
Demographics
In 2000, the population of the Nutbush
voting precinct
A precinct, voting district, polling division, or polling district, is a subdivision of an electoral district, typically a contiguous area within which all electors go to a single polling place to cast their ballots.
Canada
In elections in Ca ...
(TN 3976) was 259. Of those, 42 were
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 ...
(16.22%), 215
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 ...
(82.01%), and two were of
another ethnicity (0.77%). At that time 190 people (73.36%) were aged 18 or older.
Economy
![nutbush tennessee cotton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Nutbush_tennessee_cotton.jpg)
The community's main source of income is
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
(especially
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 perce ...
).
After the
abolition of slavery
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
, freedmen worked at
sharecropping
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 ...
as the primary means of income. They cultivated plots of land, mostly for growing
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 perce ...
, in return for paying a share of the crop to the landowner.
Modern machines such as the
cotton picker
A cotton picker is either a machine that harvests cotton, or a person who picks ripe cotton fibre from the plants. The machine is also referred to as a cotton harvester.
History
In many societies, like America, slave and serf labor was utiliz ...
have superseded manual cultivation; many farm workers left the area for cities during the
Great Migration of the early 20th century. As of 2006, one cotton-processing plant in Nutbush is the only agricultural industry in the community.
Lagoon Creek Peaking Facility is run by the
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
(TVA) in Nutbush. From eight gas turbines, the power plant generates electric power for the area in times of high demand.
History
![Nutbush tennessee scenic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Nutbush_tennessee_scenic.jpg)
The Nutbush community was established in the early 19th century by settlers from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
. Descended from immigrants from
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, they traveled westward to the Mississippi River delta in western Tennessee. They developed this area for cotton and were dependent on the use of
slave labor
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 ...
.
[''The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', Rutledge Press]
These settlers founded
Trinity United Methodist Church in 1822. During the slavery years, black enslaved people were forced to attend the church under white supervision.
During and after the Civil War, more than 50
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 ...
soldiers, both
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 ...
and
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
, were buried in the Trinity Cemetery associated with the church. The Trinity Cemetery is mentioned on the Rootsweb Internet site as one of the best-kept cemeteries in the county.
[http://www.rootsweb.com Rootsweb - Haywood County, TN ]Genealogy
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...
The community also had Woodlawn Church, which was limited to whites and is still active. Under antebellum state law, most black
congregations had to be ministered by white
pastors
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and An ...
. In 1846, Hardin Smith, who was from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, was allowed to preach to a black congregation at an evening service at the white Woodlawn Church; it was the first time an area congregation was pastored by an enslaved person.
![Nutbush Woodlawn Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Nutbush_Woodlawn_Church.jpg)
After the American Civil War, the
Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church was established in 1866 by Hardin Smith and other
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 ...
of the community, aided by some members of the
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 ...
Woodlawn Baptist Church. The freedmen soon withdrew their congregation from white supervision, as did most black Baptists in the South. They established their own regional and national associations by the end of the century.
[Brooks, Walter H. "The Evolution of the Negro Baptist Church." ''Journal of Negro History'' (1922) 7#1 pp: 11-22]
in JSTOR
/ref>
Woodlawn Baptist Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1996 for its historical significance.
In 1881, a U.S. Post office
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...
was opened in Nutbush; it was closed in 1905.
Geography
Nutbush is located at (35.6981330, -89.4081280), at an elevation of 358 feet (109 m).
Cotton fields and hills dominate the landscape of the surrounding area. Nutbush 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
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
risk.
Postal and telephone
The U.S. ZIP Code for Nutbush is 38063 (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 ...
)[ DownloadZIPcode] and the telephone area code
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...
is 731
__NOTOC__
Year 731 ( DCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 731 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
.
Notable residents
The early Black musicians and singers from the Nutbush churches recorded and influenced an international audience. Prominent recording artists include 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 ...
and Sleepy John Estes
John Adam Estes (January 25, 1899 or 1900June 5, 1977),
known as Sleepy John Estes, was an Am ...
. Harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
player Noah Lewis
Noah Lewis (September 3, 1891 – February 7, 1961)Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p. 238. . Previously,
his birth year was also reported as 1890 or 1895. 1891 is general ...
of Henning, Tennessee
Henning is a town in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. The population was 945 at the 2010 census.
History
The infamous Battle of Fort Pillow, a Civil War victory for the Confederates, took place near Henning. Here, nearly 300 black troops serving in ...
, is buried in an area cemetery near Nutbush.[
]
Nutbush is best known as the childhood home of 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 ...
, then known as Anna Mae Bullock. Bullock was born in nearby Brownsville on November 26, 1939. She was raised in Nutbush, Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...
, and Ripley by her maternal grandmother and extended family in the area. The houses she lived in as a child no longer exist. Wood from her Nutbush/Flagg Grove home was used to build a barn.[Information by Sharon Norris, national preservationist, author and researcher of ''Black America Series: Haywood County, Tennessee.''] At age 16, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
.
Both Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church and Spring Hill Baptist Church in Nutbush were family churches of Tina Turner. She attended and sang in both choirs growing up. Her family members were church officials, musicians and singers; various members are buried in these two cemeteries.
In 2002, Tennessee State Route 19 between Brownsville and Nutbush was officially designated as "Tina Turner Highway
State Route 19 (SR 19) or the Tina Turner Highway is a state highway in Haywood and Lauderdale counties in Tennessee, United States.http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/Maps/county/co49.pdf Lauderdale County, TN Highway Maphttp://www.tdot.state.tn.us/Maps ...
" in her honor.[
]
Cultural influence
*Tina Turner's 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 ...
" (1973, produced by Ike Turner
Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1 ...
) is about her hometown. The line dance
A line dance is a choreographed dance in which a group of people dance along to a repeating sequence of steps while arranged in one or more lines or rows. These lines usually face all in the same direction, or less commonly face each other.Knight, ...
" The Nutbush" is performed to the song, which is featured in "Diva
Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is clo ...
", an episode in the fourth season of ''Glee
Glee means delight, a form of happiness.
Glee may also refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
''.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
{{Authority control
Unincorporated communities in Tennessee
Unincorporated communities in Haywood County, Tennessee
Tina Turner