Cowan is a city in Franklin County,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

, United States. The population was 1,737 at the 2010 census. It is part of the

Tullahoma, Tennessee Tullahoma is a city in Coffee and Franklin counties in southern Middle Tennessee, United States. The population was 20,339 at the 2020 census. In 2019, the population was estimated to be 19,555. It is the principal city of the Tullahoma microp ...

Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The earliest settlers arrived in the Cowan area in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The home of one such settler, William Russell, served as the Franklin County Courthouse until the establishment of Winchester in 1810.John Abernathy Smith,
Franklin County
" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture''. Retrieved: 24 April 2016. The town was named for Dr. James Benjamin Cowan, a Civil War-era doctor whose family had lived in the area since the early 1800s. Cowan-depot-tn1

The town of Cowan dates from the mid-19th century and developed mostly as a railroad town. It was the site where several branch lines met the main

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

trunk of the

Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a railway company that operated in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. It began as the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, chartered in Nashville on December 11, 1845, ...

which ran through the important

Cowan Tunnel The Cowan Tunnel, or Cumberland Mountain Tunnel, is a railroad tunnel near Cowan, Tennessee. The tunnel was built by the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad Company and was completed in 1852 with the tracks laid in 1853 with a total length of . ...

. As the last stop before the uphill climb onto the nearby

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 " All ...

, pusher engines to assist trains in making the steep ascent were based there, and are still in use today. The town's economy declined with the importance of the railroad after

U.S. Route 41A Several special routes of U.S. Route 41 exist, including three in Wisconsin. In order from south to north they are as follows. Existing Fort Myers business loop U.S. Route 41 Business is a former segment of U.S. Route 41 in Downtown Fort Myer ...

was built in the 1940s. The old passenger depot, built in 1904,History
" Cowan Railroad Museum website. Retrieved: 24 April 2016. was restored as a museum, and is a focal point of the downtown area.

Geography

Cowan is located at (35.166668, -86.011839). The city is situated at the western base of the

, and is concentrated around the point where

crosses the

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

railroad tracks. The edge of the Plateau juts out in a series of ridges creating several small valleys in the area, including Hawkins Cove to the northeast and Keith Cove to the south. Cowan is drained by Boiling Fork Creek, a tributary of the Elk River. US 41A (Cumberland Street) is the primary road in Cowan, connecting the city with Winchester and the Tims Ford Lake area to the west. To the east of Cowan, US 41A ascends nearly to the top of the Cumberland Plateau, where it passes through Sewanee and Monteagle. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...

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

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,759 people, 624 households, and 341 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 1,770 people, 746 households, and 499 families residing in the city. The

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

was 895.6 people per square mile (345.2/km²). There were 803 housing units at an average density of 406.3 per square mile (156.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.68%

White White is the lightness, 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 diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 9.44%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.17% Native American, 0.00% Asian, 0.79% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 1.36% of the population.

There were 746 households, out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.95. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.7% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,448, and the median income for a family was $33,882. Males had a median income of $27,321 versus $20,909 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $18,352. About 13.4% of families and 16.7% 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 22.8% of those under the age of 18 and 11.4% of those 65 and older.

References

External links

Visit Cowan
- Cowan Commercial Club website
Cowan Railroad Museum

NC&StL Preservation Society

City charter
{{authority control Cities in Tennessee Cities in Franklin County, Tennessee Tullahoma, Tennessee micropolitan area Populated places established in 1808