Cookeville is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

and largest city of

Putnam County, Tennessee Putnam County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 79,854. Its county seat is Cookeville, Tennessee, Cookeville. Putnam County is part o ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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, smaller cities that function as significant regional economic hubs. Of Tennessee's 20 micropolitan areas, Cookeville is the largest. The Cookeville micropolitan area's 2020 census population was 141,333. The U.S. Census Bureau ranked the Cookeville micropolitan area as the 4th largest-gaining micropolitan area in the country between 2022 and 2023, with a one-year gain of 2,748 and a 2023 population of 148,226. The city is a

college town A college town or university town is a town or city whose character is dominated by a college or university and their associated culture, often characterised by the student population making up 20 percent of the population of the community, bu ...

, home to

Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Technological University (commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech) is a Public university, public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of D ...

History

Early years and establishment

Before European settlement, the Cookeville area was dominated by the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

tribe since the

Paleo-Indian Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...

era. The Cherokee used the region as hunting grounds. Cherokee claims to the land in 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 ...

ended after the Treaty of Tellico was signed in October 1805. The area surrounding Cookeville and Putnam County was first reported to be settled by

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

longhunters in the late 1700s to early 1800s, most of whom were of English and Scotch-Irish descent. Settlers arrived by Avery's Trace, which was known as the Walton Road in the area of present-day Cookeville. Putnam County was established in 1842, formed from parts of

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 ...

, Overton,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

, and DeKalb Counties after the population increased sufficiently, straining those counties' abilities to support services to the isolated residents. Entering the 19th century, the area was dominated economically by the rise of agriculture, logging, and timber production. Putnam County reestablished itself in 1854, with the establishment of a county seat required by new Tennessee state law. In the same year, land purchased by Charles Crook became the area where the new county seat was established since it has access to natural springs able to support a town. The city was named Cookeville for Richard Fielding Cooke, a pioneer who settled in the area in 1810. Cooke was twice elected to the state senate, and was influential in establishing Putnam County in 1854.

Antebellum and Civil War era

The largely rugged landscape of the Cookeville area made it unsuitable for large-scale farming operations compared to most of the larger

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee 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 an ...

region. Still, several farming institutions operated in the region, some using African slave laborers. After Tennessee seceded from the United States in 1861, residents of the Cookeville area were divided about the

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

. Most opposed secession. Cookeville residents enrolled to assist in both the armies of the Confederacy and the Union. Several aggressions occurred during the war, including the burning of the Putnam County Courthouse in Cookeville's city square, the slaying of 20 and capture of 40 Confederate soldiers by Union Army Colonel Henry McConnell, and the Battle of Dug Hill. Economic and cultural growth in Cookeville stagnated as a result of the political divide over secession, causing animosity among neighbors and families. The tides turned by the late 1800s, after the city's first hotel, the Isbell, was completed in 1886, and the Nashville and Knoxville Railroad in 1890.

20th century

The investment made by railroad companies placed Cookeville on a path of considerable economic and industrial development with the Nashville and Knoxville railroad, which became the Tennessee Central Railroad. With this growth, Cookeville officially incorporated into a chartered city in 1903. Two years later, the city established the Cookeville Light and Water Department, when electricity was first distributed in the city. In 1909, the Tennessee Central Railroad constructed the Cookeville Depot in the city's West Side District, providing passenger rail service until 1955. In 1909, local religious leaders with the aid of the Tennessee state government established the University of Dixie, a private university deeded to the community. The state government seized the institution in 1915 following decline in enrollment and financial support. The government reestablished it as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, a public

institute of technology An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

focused on education in

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...

. The university made Cookeville a regional education hub and college town, increasing its population and post-secondary education enrollment. In 1965, it was renamed

. With the advancement rail access, Cookeville began to industrialize with the rise of

textile manufacturing Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

, and the rapid expansion of the timber production industry. The railroad's dominance declined by the beginning of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. By 1930, the completion of U.S. Route 70N, the northern branch of

U.S. Route 70 U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern, Southern and Southwestern United States ...

, Cookeville's first modern highway, prompted further expansion of Cookeville's industrial and commercial markets. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

' large-scale

Center Hill Dam Center Hill Lake is a reservoir in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in Middle Tennessee near Smithville. Created by means of a dam constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1948, the lake has a dual purpose: electricity produ ...

project provided jobs for Cookeville residents, and after its completion, provided advanced electricity production for industrial development, flood control of the nearby

Caney Fork River The Caney Fork River is a river that flows through central Tennessee in the United States, draining a substantial portion of the southwestern Cumberland Plateau and southeastern Highland Rim regions. It is a major tributary of the Cumberland Rive ...

, and recreational sites with the design of Edgar Evins and Burgess Falls state parks. Other infrastructure additions to the city beneficial to the city's growth included a water treatment plant in 1946, the Cookeville General Hospital in 1950, and a wastewater treatment plant in 1952. Johns-place-cookeville-tn

During the

Jim Crow era The Jim Crow laws were U.S. state, state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, "Jim Crow (character), Ji ...

of the 1950s, John's Place was one business where white and black locals could socialize together. John's Place originally opened as Ed's Place in 1949, and was later known as McClellan's Cafe and finally John's Place as of 1957. At 11 Gibson Avenue, off West Spring Street, it was a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

and

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

. John's Place is known for its

southern cuisine The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including cuisine of Southeastern Native American tribes, Tidewater, Appalachian, Ozarks, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, African American cuisi ...

—fried chicken, catfish, meatloaf, and corn bread—as well as beer. Many local white people encountered their first

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 ...

at the restaurant. John's Place was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2011. By 1966, the

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

corridor was completed south of the city center, prompting annexation of several of the freeway's interchanges for commercial development. After its end of passenger rail use in 1955, the Cookeville Depot fell into disrepair. A group of local residents and preservationists worked to save the depot from demolition, and the Cookeville city government eventually purchased it. The group responsible for its preservation restored the depot and reopened it as a museum in 1985, the year it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. By the 1970 census, Cookeville's population had increased by more than 80% from 1960, as it rose from a predominately rural town into a larger hub city with increased enrollment at Tennessee Technological University and Interstate 40 positioning the city for increased employment opportunities. The city's establishment as the economic hub of the Upper Cumberland region strengthened with the construction and completion of

Tennessee State Route 111 State Route 111 (SR 111) is a north–south highway in Middle and East Tennessee. The road begins in Soddy-Daisy and ends north of Byrdstown in the community of Static, at the Tennessee/Kentucky state line. The length is . Route descr ...

, also known as

Appalachian Development Highway System The Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) is a series of highway corridors in the Appalachia region of the eastern United States. The routes are designed as local and regional routes for improving economic development in the historica ...

Corridor J. Corridor J, which went through the engineering phase in 1978 and was completed in the late 1980s, provides expressway-grade access to Cookeville from communities in Overton and

counties. Throughout the 1990s, the Cookeville Public Works and Engineering Department constructed several collector streets that aided commercial development along the northern side of the I-40 corridor in the city.

Modern day

Cookeville embarked on one of its recorded largest expansions of its

city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary (real estate), boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. ...

when it annexed over 10 square miles of previously unincorporated Putnam County between 2000 and 2009. In 2007, city officials approved the purchase of over 400 acres for a regional

industrial park An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

known as the Highlands Business Park. In 2008, Cookeville General Hospital, then recently renamed the Cookeville Regional Medical Center, completed a major renovation and expansion project as a result of the city's and region's population growth.

2020 tornado

In the early morning of March 3, 2020, an EF4 tornado touched down west of Cookeville, damaging several of the city's western outskirt neighborhoods. It killed 19 people, injured 87, and caused more than $100 million in damages. Tennessee Tech closed for two days, encouraging student volunteers to assist first responders in rescue and clean-up. The tornado's estimated maximum wind speed of 175 mph along its nearly nine-mile path was recorded as the strongest storm of the outbreak.

Geography

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 an area of , of which is land and (0.77%) is water. Located on the

Highland Rim The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee, North Alabama, and Kentucky which surrounds the Central Basin. The Central Basin is a geological dome which has subsequently fractured and eroded to produce a basin. The Highland R ...

, Cookeville's elevation (1100 ft AMSL) is a few hundred feet higher than Nashville's or Knoxville's. As a result, temperatures and humidity levels are generally slightly lower in Cookeville than in either the Nashville Basin or the Tennessee Valley. Cookeville is in Tennessee's Upper Cumberland region near the crossroads of

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway in the southeastern and southwestern portions of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and ...

, SR 136, and US 70N-

SR 24 Route 24, or Highway 24, can refer to: International * European route E24 Australia * Lyell Highway (Tasmania) * Central Arnhem Road, NT Austria * Verbindungsspange Rothneusiedel Bolivia * Route 24 (Bolivia), National Route 24 (Bolivia) ...

. It is 79 miles east of

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and 101 miles west of

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. Three man-made lakes maintained by the Corps of Engineers are near Cookeville. They were built to help flood control in

Center Hill Lake Center Hill Lake is a reservoir in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in Middle Tennessee near Smithville. Created by means of a dam constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1948, the lake has a dual purpose: electricity produ ...

Cordell Hull Lake Cordell Hull Lake is a lake in the Cumberland River in north-central Tennessee, about forty miles east of Nashville, in the vicinity of Carthage. It covers approximately . The lake is impounded by Cordell Hull Dam, which was built by the United ...

, and

Dale Hollow Lake The Dale Hollow Reservoir is a reservoir situated on the Kentucky/Tennessee border. The lake is formed by the damming of the Obey River, above its juncture with the Cumberland River at river mile 380. Portions of the lake also cover the Wolf Ri ...

in the Cumberland Plateau's narrow valleys. Two smaller man-made lakes, City Lake and Burgess Falls Lake, lie along the

Falling Water River The Falling Water River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It rises just west ...

, which flows through southeastern Putnam County. Cane Creek Lake, created by an earthen dam built by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

, is in western Cookeville.

Climate

Cookeville has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Cfa'') or oceanic climate (

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...

: ''Doa'') depending on the classification system used, with relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation through the year. Summers are typically hot and humid and winters are mild and cool. The highest temperature recorded in Cookeville since 1896 is on June 29, 2012, and the lowest temperature recorded is on January 21, 1985. Average annual precipitation is , with the highest recorded precipitation at on September 29, 1964. Average annual snowfall is with the highest recorded snowfall at on November 3, 1966.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 34,842 people, 13,743 households, and 7,341 families residing in the city.

2010 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 2010, there were 30,435 people, 12,471 households, and 6,669 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 13,706 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 87.9%

, 3.4%

, 0.6% Native American, 2.0% Asian, 0.21%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 4.0% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more 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 7.0% of the population. There were 12,471 households, out of which 25.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37% 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, 12% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.5% were non-families. Of all households 33.9% were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.83. In the city, the population was spread out, with 18.6% under the age of 18, 25.2% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,789, and the median income for a family was $39,623. Males had a median income of $28,013 versus $21,710 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 $19,297. About 13.1% of families and 23.2% 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 20.1% of those under age 18 and 18.7% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Cookeville is the Upper Cumberland region's largest city and as such is known as the "Hub of the Upper Cumberlands". It is at the center of the labor market area consisting of Putnam,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, DeKalb,

, Overton,

, and

Counties, with a civilian labor force in 2013 of 103,500 jobs (roughly one-third of which are in Putnam County). , 16 commercial

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

s and four

credit unions A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts ( cheque accounts), credit ...

operated in the city, with combined deposits over $2.5 billion. Total retail sales in Cookeville for 2016 were $1.6 billion. Putnam County's

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

rate was 3.0% , down from 3.7% in April. Cookeville's

cost of living The cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living for an individual or a household. Changes in the cost of living over time can be measured in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare t ...

is low, and the city ranked 8th in the U.S. on the Center for Regional Economic Competitivess Cost of Living Index in 2016.

Top employers

According to the city's 2030 Comprehensive Annual Plan published in 2010, Cookeville's top employers in 2009 were:

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the largest sector of Cookeville's economy, with over 100 plants and 8,000 employees. With 13% of the workforce, retail trade employs about 4,200 people and is the second-largest sector. Health care workers are about 12% of the work force, at 3,840. Education is another major sector, with nearly 2,000 employees at

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University (commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech) is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie, the name unde ...

and the public school system. Several companies are based in Cookeville. In 2006

Oreck Oreck is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bruce J. Oreck (born 1953), American politician * David Oreck (1923–2023), American entrepreneur, business salesman, and lecturer, father of Bruce * Don Oreck (1930—2006), American ...

manufacturing moved its

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, plant to Cookeville after

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. Oreck employs about 500 people and is a prominent business in the region. The trucking company

Averitt Express Averitt Express is an American transportation and supply chain management company based in Cookeville, Tennessee. History The company was founded as Livingston Merchant's Co-op in 1958 and incorporated as Averitt Express in 1969. Averitt is owne ...

is based in Cookeville, as is J&S Construction. The manufacturing company ATC Automation is also based in Cookeville, and in 2016 announced a $10.4 million investment plan intended to add 110 engineering jobs to the city. Later in 2016, Academy Sports & Outdoors opened a 1.6 million square foot distribution center in Cookeville, the state's largest distribution center under one roof. It employs 700. Also in 2016, Spanish automotive supplier Ficosa relocated a factory and 450 jobs from nearby Crossville to a new, $58 million facility in Cookeville, where it added an additional 550 jobs. The Ficosa plant produces high-tech rear-view mirrors.

Technology and research

In 2017, Science Applications International Corp. announced that it would establish its first center of excellence to deliver information technology services in downtown Cookeville. It will be named the Technology Integration Gateway and will employ 300 information technology (IT) professionals when fully developed. Also in 2017,

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

-based Digital Dream Forge opened a software testing facility in Cookeville, employing 80. In 2018, Italian tile and glass maker Colorrobia announced it would open a $5 million laboratory in Cookeville to service ceramic tile factories in the area.

Retail

Interstate Drive, parallel to

at the south end of town, is the site of many popular

and

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

chains A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

. A 228,000-square-foot

retail park A retail park is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom and other European countries. Retail parks form a key aspect of European retail geographies, alongside indoor shopping centres, ...

, Shoppes at Eagle Point, is just off of Interstate Drive at the intersection of South Walnut Avenue and East Veterans Drive. Historic Downtown's West Side has several locally owned retail stores and restaurants. Cookeville is also home to three of the region's

microbreweries Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

. Cookeville is considered to be

CrossFit CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. The method was developed by Greg Glassman, who founded CrossFit with Lauren Jenai in 2000, with CrossFit its registered trad ...

's "global mecca", with many of the world's top

CrossFit Games The CrossFit Games is an annual athletic competition owned and operated by CrossFit, LLC. Athletes compete in a series of events at the Games, which may be various standard CrossFit workouts consisting of metabolic conditioning exercises, weight ...

athletes living and training together at four-time individual champion Rich Froning's

CrossFit Mayhem CrossFit Mayhem is a CrossFit affiliate located in Cookeville, Tennessee. Mayhem was started in 2009 by Rich Froning Jr. in his father's barn as a place to train. In 2012, Rich opened the original downtown facility, but almost immediately began ...

location.

Points of interest

* Dogwood Park * Cane Creek Park * Heart of the City Playground * Park View Skate Park * Window Cliffs State Natural Area *

Burgess Falls State Park Burgess Falls State Park is a state park and state natural area in Putnam County and White County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. The park is situated around a steep gorge in which the Falling Water River drops in elev ...

* Cummins Falls State Park * Gerald D. Coorts Memorial Arboretum * Cookeville Depot Museum * Cookeville Performing Arts Center * Arda E. Lee's Hidden Hollow * White Plains

Museums

* Cookeville History Museum * Cookeville Children's Museum * Derryberry Art Gallery * Cumberland Art Society and Gallery * Appalachian Center for Craft Gallery

Performing arts

* Cookeville Community Band * Cookeville Children's Theatre * Dogwood Outdoor Performance Pavilion * Bryan Symphony Orchestra * Bryan Fine Arts Center * Mastersingers * Cookeville Performing Arts Center * Backdoor Playhouse * Drama Center Backstage * Wesley Arena Theatre * Shakespeare in the Park * StoryTeller Theatre and Academy * Brown Bag Lunch Concerts

Government

Cookeville has a council-manager municipal government. There is an elected five-member

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

, including a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, vice mayor, and three city council members. The city council establishes policy that is administered by a full-time

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

. City council members serve four-year terms, and the city manager and city clerk are appointed by the city council. The mayor is Laurin Wheaton, and the four other city council members are Vice Mayor Luke Eldridge, Ali Bagci, Chad Gilbert, and Eric Walker. The city manager is James Mills and the city clerk is Darian Coons. Cookeville is also the

of Putnam County. The county mayor is Randy Porter. , Putnam County's population is 74,165.

Education

Cookeville is predominantly a

, home to

since 1915. Tennessee Tech is a public university with programs concentrating in

(STEM) studies, and is ranked 35th by '' U.S. News & World Report'' on its list of the Top Regional Universities in the South, as well as the most underrated university in Tennessee. The university is rated under "Doctoral Universities - High Research Activity (R2)" by the Carnegie classification system among schools with at least 20 doctoral graduates per year. In addition to its science and engineering programs, the university is also home to the Mastersingers and the Tennessee Tech Tuba Ensemble, led by R. Winston Morris. Cookeville is also home to a satellite campus of

Volunteer State Community College Volunteer State Community College (Vol State) is a public community college in Gallatin, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents. Vol State serves the suburban Nashville community. The main campus of the college is 30 miles (48 ...

as well as the Tennessee Bible College, a Christian college affiliated with the

Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ, also commonly known as the Church of Christ, is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations located around the world. Typically, their distinguishing beliefs are that of the necessity of baptism for salvation ...

. Cookeville's public schools are run by Putnam County Schools, which consists of 18 elementary, middle, and high schools. Schools in Cookeville include Cookeville High School, Jere Whitson Elementary, Prescott Middle School, Northeast Elementary, Capshaw Elementary, Dry Valley School, Parkview Elementary, Sycamore Elementary, Cane Creek Elementary, Avery Trace Middle, and the Adult High School. Cookeville High School is one of Tennessee's six largest public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

s. Cookeville High School and Avery Trace Middle School are among Tennessee's 20 schools to offer the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

program.

Media

Cookeville's major daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

is the '' Herald-Citizen'', which publishes in print and online formats daily, Sunday through Friday. Cookeville is the headquarters of the '' Upper Cumberland Business Journal'', a quarterly business newspaper serving the 14-county Upper Cumberland region. Cookeville is home to one broadcast television station,

WCTE WCTE (channel 22) is a PBS member television station in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States, serving the Upper Cumberland region. Owned by the Upper Cumberland Broadcast Council, the station originally had studios on the campus of Tennessee Tec ...

TV 22 (

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Charter Communications Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. With over 32 million customers in 41 states as of 2022, it is the ...

provides

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

service, and

Dish Network DISH Network L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...

provides

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

. Using cable or satellite, television stations and

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

s from the Nashville media market can be received. Local

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

s include Charter Communications,

Frontier Communications Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. is an American telecommunications company. Known as Citizens Utilities Company until 2000, Citizens Communications Company until 2008, and Frontier Communications Corporation until 2020, as a communications pr ...

, an
Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative
which has introduced gigabit broadband internet service in Cookeville. Cookeville is served by 13 FM and three AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

s. Tennessee Tech University's

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

indie station operates at

WTTU WTTU (88.5 FM), also referred to as The Nest, is a college radio station licensed to Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. The station, owned by Tennessee Technological University, broadcasts with 2,000 watts of power. This variety station ma ...

88.5 FM, and

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

(NPR) broadcasts at WHRS 91.7 FM (simulcast with

WPLN WPLN may refer to: * WPLN-FM WPLN-FM (90.3 MHz), is a non-commercial public radio station in Nashville, Tennessee. It airs a news, talk and information radio format and is owned by Nashville Public Radio along with sister station WNXP. The ...

, Nashville).

Rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

and

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

stations include

WKSW WKSW (98.5 FM, "98.5 Kiss FM") is a Top 40 music formatted radio station broadcasting from Cookeville, Tennessee Cookeville is the county seat and largest city of Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census ...

98.5 Kiss FM and WBXE Rock 93.7 FM, and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

can be found at

WGSQ WGSQ (94.7 FM, "Country Giant 94.7") is a radio station licensed to serve Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. The station is owned by Cookeville Communications, LLC. WGSQ broadcasts a country music format to the Upper Cumberland Area. Syndic ...

94.7 FM Country Giant &

WKXD-FM WKXD-FM (106.9 Hertz, MHz, "106.9 Kicks Country") is a radio station broadcasting a country music radio format, format. Licensed to Monterey, Tennessee, United States, the station is currently owned by Stonecom. History The Federal Communication ...

106.9 Kicks FM. There is a

light rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

station at

WLQK WLQK (95.9 FM, "Lite Rock 95.9") is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary music format. Licensed to Livingston, Tennessee Livingston is a town in Overton County, Tennessee, Overton County, Tennessee, United States, and serves as t ...

95.9 FM, and three

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

stations:

WAYM AYM or aym may refer to: * Aymara language, spoken in Bolivia, Peru and Chile * The Alliance for Youth Movements, now known as Movements.org * '' Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada'', a 2016 Indian Tamil-language film * Angry young men, a British lite ...

90.5 FM Christian Hit Radio, WWOG 90.9 FM King of Kings Radio, and

Catholic Radio Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...

station

WRIM Rim (理芽, ''Rime,'' born 2001 or 2002), stylized in all caps, is a Japanese singer and virtual YouTuber represented by Kamitsubaki Studio. She uploads original songs as well as covers in both Japanese, English, and Korean. Her character was ...

89.9 Risen Radio. Three

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

stations broadcast on both the FM and the AM dials:

WPTN WPTN (780 AM broadcasting, AM, "106.1 The Eagle") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Cookeville, Tennessee, United States, the station serves the Cookeville area. The station is owned by Cookeville Communications, ...

The Eagle 106.1 FM and AM 780 (sports),

WHUB WHUB (1400 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Contemporary Christian music format. Licensed to Cookeville, Tennessee, United States, the station serves the Cookeville area. The station is owned by Cookeville Communications, LLC and features " ...

The Hub 107.7 FM and AM 1400 (news), and WUCT News Talk 94.1 FM and 1600 AM (news).

Infrastructure

Transportation

Cookeville is about east of

and west of

along

(I-40).

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

is about south on

(SR 111).

U.S. Route 70N U.S. Route 70N (US 70N) is a northern alternate to U.S. Route 70 in Tennessee, U.S. Route 70, passing through parts of Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee. It runs east–west from Lebanon, Tennessee, Lebanon to Crossville, Tennessee, Crossvill ...

(US 70N, Spring Street in central and eastern Cookeville, W. Broad Street on the western side) runs east–west through Cookeville's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

, which is about northwest of the

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

of I-40 with SR 111. The city's major streets are North Washington Avenue and South Jefferson Avenue, which run north–south through the central business district, and Willow Avenue, running north–south and immediately adjacent to Tennessee Tech University. In addition to Spring Street (US 70N), 10th Street runs east–west and connects North Washington Avenue with the neighboring town of Algood, and 12th Street runs east–west and connects North Washington with Willow, and leads out of town to the west, connecting with

Tennessee State Route 56 State Route 56 (SR 56) is a state highway that runs south to north in Middle Tennessee, from the Alabama state line near Sherwood to the Kentucky state line near Red Boiling Springs. SR 56 is secondary south of Sewanee. It is primary (but u ...

(SR 56, Gainesboro Highway) via

Tennessee State Route 290 State Route 290 (SR 290) is a state highway in Jackson and Putnam counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It connects SR 53 northeast of Granville to SR 135 in Cookeville via SR 56 and Bloomington Springs. Route description SR 290 be ...

(SR 290). Running east–west adjacent to I-40 in the southern section of the city is Interstate Drive, which is populated by several national restaurant chains, hotels, and other businesses. There are no commercial passenger airports in the area, but the Cookeville City Council has studied commercial service as of 2022. In White County, about 8.5

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at t ...

s (15.7 km) south of the

, is the Upper Cumberland Regional Airport , a small

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

airport serving primarily single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

aircraft. Commercial flights are available at

Nashville International Airport Nashville International Airport is a public/military airport in the southeastern section of Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1937, its original name was Berry Field, from which its ICAO and IATA identi ...

, along I-40 to the west. Airport shuttles and the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) provide transportation to Nashville International. UCHRA's Connect Upper Cumberland service route provides each community with daily intercity bus service on I-40 and I-24 into Nashville and Murfreesboro, with stops including the Greyhound Bus Station, airport, and other requested destinations. Since Cookeville's founding,

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

was a major part of the economy, and the

Tennessee Central Railway The Tennessee Central Railway was founded in 1884 as the Nashville and Knoxville Railroad by Alexander S. Crawford. It was an attempt to open up a rail route from the coal and minerals of East Tennessee to the markets of the midstate, a service ...

connecting

and

had a major rail depot in the central business district. This railway was used primarily to transport

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

and

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...

to the midstate region. The coal industry declined during the 1960s, and the Tennessee Central Railway was discontinued in 1968. Construction of a bicycle trail adjacent to the railway's path began in 2013, with the reconstruction of the rail depot in

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

. Plans are to connect this depot and the rail depot in Cookeville's central business district (now a museum) with a bicycle trail.

Notable people

Mack Brown William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American former college football coach. Brown most recently coached at the University of North Carolina, where he had two stints, first from 1988 until 1997, and again from 2019 until his firing ...

– head football coach of the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

and former head football coach of the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

* Watson Brown – older brother of North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown, former head football coach of the

Rice Owls The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Houston's Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors ...

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

UAB Blazers The UAB Blazers are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The school is one of the fourteen member institutions of the American Athletic Conference and participates in Divisi ...

, and

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Tennessee Technological University (TTU), located in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. The TTU athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and ...

Jim Carlen James Anthony Carlen III (July 11, 1933 – July 22, 2012) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at West Virginia University (1966–1969) and Texas Tech University (197 ...

– former head football coach of the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The Mountaineers have been a membe ...

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

, and

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

Sunny Choi Grace Sun "Sunny" Choi (born November 10, 1988) is an American breakdancer who competed in the inaugural breaking competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She previously performed as a youth gymnast and a director at Estée Lauder before leavi ...

– Olympic breakdancer born in Cookeville * Rich Froning Jr. – four-time individual and four-time team champion of the

Robert Ben Garant Robert Ben Garant, credited earlier in his career as Ben Garant, is an American screenwriter, producer, director, comedian and actor. He has a long professional relationship with Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver from their time on the ske ...

– "Deputy Junior" from the TV show ''

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American television sitcom created by Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver for Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic ...

'' * Bobby Greenwood –

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

* Jake Hoot – winner of the 17th season of ''The Voice'' * Huda Kattan – makeup artist, beauty blogger, and founder of cosmetics line Huda Beauty * Byron (Low Tax) Looper – convicted murderer of State Senator Tommy Burks in 1998 * Harold E. Martin –

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning newspaperman and former co-owner of the ''Herald Citizen'' *

Billy Napier William Hall Napier (born July 21, 1979) is an American football coach currently serving as head coach at the University of Florida. From 2017 until 2021, he was head coach at the University of Louisiana, amassing a 40–12 record in four season ...

– head football coach of the

University of Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

and former head football coach of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette * Jack Norton (musician), Jack Norton – children's musician and host of children's TV show ''The Zinghoppers'' * William Eldridge Odom – former National Security Agency director * Michael Penix Jr. – professional American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons * Alison Piepmeier – scholar and feminist known for her book ''Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism''. She was director of Women's and Gender Studies and associate professor of English at the College of Charleston. * JJ Redick, J. J. Redick – former NBA player, born in Cookeville * Elmo Stoll – former Amish, Old Order Amish bishop who founded the Christian Communities (Elmo Stoll), "Christian Communities", of which the center was Cookeville * Maria Taylor (sportscaster), Maria Taylor – sportscaster born in Cookeville * Trent Taylor – professional American football player born in Cookeville * Lonnie Warwick – former professional football player * Padfoot - loving dog of Jeff and Josie

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

*
Convention and Visitors Bureau
{{authority control 1854 establishments in Tennessee Cities in Putnam County, Tennessee Cities in Tennessee Cookeville, Tennessee micropolitan area County seats in Tennessee