Cookeville, Tennessee
Cookeville is the county seat of and the largest city in 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 micropolitan areas, smaller cities that function as significant regional economic hubs. Of Tennessee's 20 micropolitan areas, Cookeville is the largest.
At the 2020 census, the Cookeville micropolitan area's 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, home to Tennessee Technological University.
History
Early years and establishment
Before European settlement, the Cookeville area was dominated by the Cherokee tribe since the Paleo-Indian era. The Cherokee used the region as hunting grounds. Cherokee claims to the land in the Cumberland Plateau 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 and North Carolina 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, Overton, Jackson, Smith, 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 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. 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 Dixie College, a private school 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 focused on education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The university made Cookeville a regional education hub and college town, increasing its population and post-secondary education enrollment. In 1965, it was renamed Tennessee Technological University.
With the advancement rail access, Cookeville began to industrialize with the rise of textile manufacturing, coal mining, and the rapid expansion of the timber production industry. The railroad's dominance declined by the beginning of the Great Depression. By 1930, the completion of U.S. Route 70N, the northern branch of U.S. Route 70, Cookeville's first modern highway, prompted further expansion of Cookeville's industrial and commercial markets. The United States Army Corps of Engineers' large-scale Center Hill Dam 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, 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.
During the Jim Crow era 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 and restaurant. John's Place is known for its southern cuisine—fried chicken, catfish, meatloaf, and corn bread—as well as beer. Many local white people encountered their first African American at the restaurant. John's Place was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
By 1966, the Interstate 40 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, also known as Appalachian Development Highway System 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 White 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 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 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 city has an area of, of which is land and is water.Located on the Highland Rim, Cookeville's elevation 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, SR 136, and US 70N-SR 24. It is 79 miles east of Nashville and 101 miles west of Knoxville.
Three man-made lakes maintained by the Corps of Engineers are near Cookeville. They were built to help flood control in Center Hill Lake, Cordell Hull Lake, and Dale Hollow Lake in the Cumberland Plateau's narrow valleys. Two smaller man-made lakes, City Lake and Burgess Falls Lake, lie along the Falling Water River, which flows through southeastern Putnam County. Cane Creek Lake, created by an earthen dam built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, is in western Cookeville.