Coopertown is a town in southern Robertson County. Located in

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 ...

, Coopertown is part of the Nashville-Davidson–

Murfreesboro Murfreesboro is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census estimate, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010 United States census, 2010. Murfreesboro i ...

–

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,480.

Speed trap reputation

In January 2006, Coopertown was called "one of the more blatant examples of

speed trap Speed limit, Speed limits are enforced on most public roadways by authorities, with the purpose to improve driver compliance with speed limits. Methods used include roadside speed traps set up and operated by the police and automated roadside "s ...

s" in the country by a spokesperson for the National Motorists Association (NMA).Tickets are Coopertown's fast lane to fuller coffers, AAA says
a January 2006 article from ''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, w ...

'' The town's mayor, Danny Crosby, defended the increased enforcement of lowered speed limits, citing the need to combat speeders using Highway 49 as a shortcut between I-24 and

I-65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south 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 the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...

. A complaint and writ of ouster filed by the State of Tennessee on June 27, 2006, noted that comment from the NMA. That complaint seeks to remove Crosby from office, due to acts of willful misconduct related to the speed traps, as well as other abuses of power. The trial court dismissed the petition, reinstated Crosby as mayor of the City of Coopertown, and awarded Crosby his discretionary costs. An appeal was heard September 7, 2007. In January 2008, the

Tennessee Court of Appeals The Tennessee Court of Appeals (in case citation, Tenn. Ct. App.) was created in 1925 by the Tennessee General Assembly as an intermediate appellate court to hear appeals in civil cases from the Tennessee state trial courts. Appeals of judgments ...

ruled that even though "the trial court accurately characterized conduct attributable to Crosby as 'bigotry, sexism, or utter foolishness'", the plaintiff failed to prove by "clear and convincing evidence" that Crosby "knowingly or willfully" committed the type of misconduct essential to establish the requisite statutory grounds to remove a public official from office.

History

The tribal identities of the 16th and 17th century Native American occupants of present-day Tennessee are disputed. In later years, the part of

that was to become the Coopertown community was claimed as territorial hunting grounds by both 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 ...

and the

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

. That area was at the southern edge of what became known as the

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Purchase, land purchased in 1775 from the Cherokee by Richard Henderson, a North Carolina land speculator seeking to establish a 14th colony. David Naive settled there in 1825, and the area became known as Naive's Crossroads. During subsequent years, the county's involvement in the production of

barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids ...

and

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

led to the establishment of one or more

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), an alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * "Cooper", a song by Roxette from ...

shops in the community, making barrels for the nearby Red River mills. The presence of coopers led to the community's present name. Coopertown was officially incorporated in 1996, a decision taken by the citizens of the community in response to a proposal to locate a landfill in the community. In August 2005, Coopertown Middle School opened, serving grades 6 to 8, and in 2007, grades 4 and 5 would move to the middle school. In July 2016, ground breaking occurred with Lowe's to build a 1.2 million sq. ft. fulfillment distribution center to employ 400 people and ramping up to 600 people. The facility opened in July 2018. It is located on York Rd. which is off I-24 at exit 24. Former Mayors - Ethel Spiller (1996-2000), Herman Davis (2000-2004), Danny Crosby (2004–2008), J. Sam Childs (2008-2016), Glen Guyor (2016-2020), and Becca Warner (2020-2024)

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 town has a total area of , all land. Snow in coopertown tn

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 4,480 people, 1,614 households, and 1,334 families residing in the town.

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 3,027 people, 1,078 households, and 914 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,128 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.97%

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 ...

, 1.62%

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 ...

, 0.46% Asian, 0.40% Native American, 0.59% from other races, and 0.96% 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 1.26% of the population. There were 1,078 households, out of which 40.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.4% 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, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.2% were non-families. 11.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.03. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.8% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $56,122, and the median income for a family was $58,947. Males had a median income of $37,059 versus $25,875 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 town was $24,818. About 4.1% of families and 5.5% 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 6.9% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Bert James Albert William James (22 September 1914 – 30 September 2006) was an Australian politician. He was born in Collie, Western Australia, the son of Rowley James, a future Labor member for Hunter in the Australian House of Representatives. Albe ...

, baseball player.

References

External links

Town of Coopertown official website
including
"City News" section
{{authority control Towns in Robertson County, Tennessee Towns in Tennessee Populated places established in 1825 1996 establishments in Tennessee