Adams is a city in

Robertson County, Tennessee Robertson County is a county located on the central northern border of Tennessee in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 72,803. Its seat of government is Springfield. The county was named for James Ro ...

, United States. It is near the

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

state line. The population was 624 at the 2020 census.

History

The first settlers in what is now Adams arrived in the late 18th century. The Red River Baptist Church, one of the first churches founded west of the

Cumberland Plateau The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms " Al ...

, was built on the banks of the Red River in 1791. The congregation relocated to its current location on Church Street in 1898. Bell-Witch-THC-marker-tn1

Adams developed in the late 1850s as a station on the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad (later part of the L&N system). Most of the city's early buildings were destroyed during the Civil War. The city originally incorporated as Red River in 1869, but was renamed Adams Station in honor of James Reuben Adams, who owned much of the land on which the city was built. The name was simplified to "Adams" in 1898. By the late 1880s, Adams was home to several stores, a flour mill, two churches, and a school. The city repealed its charter in 1899, but reincorporated in 1908, and incorporated as a city in 1963.The History of Adams, Tennessee
" Bell Witch website. Accessed: October 24, 2016. During the 1920s, Adams began to receive a steady flow of automobile traffic due to its location along

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miam ...

, which was one of the main roads linking the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

area with

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The city began to decline in the mid 20th century with the discontinuance of passenger rail traffic and the construction of

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

and

Interstate 65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between th ...

(which drew much of the automobile traffic away from US 41). Adams is the site of an infamous haunting, the

Bell Witch The Bell Witch or Bell Witch Haunting is a legend from Southern United States Folklore of the United States, folklore, centered on the 19th-century Bell family of northwest Robertson County, Tennessee, Robertson County, Tennessee. Farmer John Be ...

. The first manifestations of the Bell Witch haunting supposedly occurred in 1817 through 1820 on a farm owned by John Bell. A memorial to the Bell family can be found at Bellwood Cemetery. The city's municipal offices are now located in the former Bell School, which was built in 1920 and named for a descendant of John Bell. A log cabin built by John Bell around 1810 has been relocated to a plot across from the Bell School.

Geography

The city is situated in northwestern Robertson County at the intersection of

, which connects Adams with Springfield to the southeast and

Guthrie, Kentucky Guthrie is a home rule-class city in Todd County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 1,330 at the 2020 census. Geography Guthrie is located at (36.647396, -87.170725). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city h ...

, to the northwest, and State Route 76, which connects Adams with Clarksville to the southwest. The city's boundaries stretch northward and westward to the Red River, a tributary of the

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

. According to the

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

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 624 people, 210 households, and 138 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the

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

of 2000, there were 566 people, 203 households, and 158 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 230 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 90.11%

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

, 8.48%

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

, 0.18% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.88% from other races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.94% of the population. Red River Baptist Church

There were 203 households, out of which 41.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were

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

living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.7% were non-families. 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.13. In the city, the population was spread out, with 29.2% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,500, and the median income for a family was $40,179. Males had a median income of $31,932 versus $21,190 for females. The

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

for the city was $15,067. About 6.3% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the

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

, including 18.2% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The Adams, TN City Commission consists of the following members:

References

External links

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Municipal Technical Advisory Service entry for Adams
— information on local government, elections, and link to charter {{authority control Cities in Tennessee Cities in Robertson County, Tennessee Populated places established in 1869 1869 establishments in Tennessee