Gainesboro () is a town in and 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 ...

of Jackson County,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, United States. The population was 920 at the 2020 census. Gainesboro is part of the

Cookeville, Tennessee Cookeville is the county seat and largest city of Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was reported to be 34,842. It is recognized as one of the country's Cookeville micropolitan area, mic ...

Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Gainesboro vicinity was a popular destination for long hunters as early as the 1770s, as natural salt licks drew rich game to the area. In the 1790s, Avery's Trace passed nearby, with travellers along the road lodging at Fort Blount about 10 miles to the west. Gainesboro was named after

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Brevet Major General

Edmund P. Gaines Edmund Pendleton Gaines (March 20, 1777 – June 6, 1849) was an American Army officer who served for nearly fifty years, and attained the rank of major general by brevet. He was one of the Army's senior commanders during its formative years ...

(1777–1849). It has been the seat of Jackson County since 1820.The Federal Writers' Project, ''The WPA Guide to Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1986), 445. The 1970

John Frankenheimer John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits are ''Birdman of Alcatraz (film), Birdman of Alcatraz'', ''The Manc ...

Movie ''

I Walk the Line "I Walk the Line" is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Johnny Cash. After moderate chart success, it soon became Cash's first #1 hit on the ''Billboard'' country chart, and eventually crossed over to the pop charts, reaching #19 on the Bil ...

'' starring

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

and featuring

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

's song ''

'' was filmed in Gainesboro.

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 ...

, Gainesboro is located approximately 15 miles northwest of Cookeville and has a total area of , of which are land and (14.29%) is water.

Climate

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 920 people, 347 households, and 152 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 879 people, 373 households, and 208 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 430 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.29%

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 ...

, 1.98%

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 ...

, 0.11% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.34% from other races, and 0.80% 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 0.57% of the population. There were 373 households, of which 16.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.2% 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, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.0% were non-families. 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.61. In the town, the population was spread out, with 13.5% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 20.4% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 30.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 51 years. For every 100 females, there were 68.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 67.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $19,861, and the median income for a family was $30,250. Males had a median income of $24,091 versus $21,932 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 $17,798. About 20.3% of families and 27.8% 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 49.0% of those under age 18 and 25.7% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Andrew J. Allen, Classical saxophonist. * Charlotte Burks, Tennessee State Senator. * Mounce Gore Butler - member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. * Alvan Cullem Gillem - Union army general. * John J. Gore - United States District Court judge * Jamie Dailey - Bluegrass musician of the music group Dailey & Vincent and member of the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

References

External links

Official County WebsiteMunicipal Technical Advisory Service entry for Gainesboro
– information on local government, elections, and link to charter {{authority control Towns in Jackson County, Tennessee Towns in Tennessee County seats in Tennessee Cookeville, Tennessee micropolitan area