Dyersburg, Tennessee
Dyersburg is a city and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States. It is located in northwest Tennessee, 79 miles (127 km) northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 16,164 at the 2020 census, down 5.72% from the 2010 census.[6]
"Dyersburg" redirects here. For other uses, see Dyersburg (disambiguation).
Dyersburg, Tennessee
History[edit]
Early history[edit]
The lands encompassing Dyersburg were originally inhabited by the Chickasaw people. As westward expansion continued, the Chickasaw Nation relinquished their claims to West Tennessee through a series of treaties, culminating in the final agreement signed in 1818. Following this, European settlers began arriving in the area around 1819.[7]
19th century[edit]
In 1823, the Tennessee General Assembly established two new counties immediately west of the Tennessee River, Dyer County being one of them. John McIver and Joel H. Dyer donated 60 acres (240,000 m2) for the new county seat, aptly named Dyersburg, at a central location within the county known as "McIver's Bluff". Dyer surveyed the town in 1825, laying out 86 lots.[8] The county (and county seat) were named for Joel Dyer's father, Colonel Robert Henry Dyer. Col. Dyer served as the first postmaster of Dyersburg, and sat on its first chancery court.[9] The first courthouse was constructed on the square in 1827, while the current Classical Revival-style courthouse, designed by Asa Biggs in 1911, remains a centerpiece of the downtown historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sports[edit]
From 1923 to 1925, Dyersburg was home to a Minor League Baseball team known as the Dyersburg Forked Deers (1923–1924) and Dyersburg Deers (1925).[42] They won the Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League championship in 1923 and 1924.[43][44]
On March 9, 2024, the Dyersburg High School Girls Basketball Team (The Lady Trojans) won their first State Championship in Class 3A by beating Upperman High School 41-39. The tournament was played at Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. [45]
Media[edit]
Newspaper[edit]
The Dyersburg State Gazette is a semi-weekly broadsheet newspaper published in Dyersburg.[49] The newspaper has had a circulation reaching 7,900.[50]