Giles County, Tennessee
Giles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,346.[2] Its county seat is Pulaski.[3]
Giles County
United States
November 14, 1809
Pulaski
611 sq mi (1,580 km2)
611 sq mi (1,580 km2)
0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2) 0.04%
30,346 
50/sq mi (20/km2)
History[edit]
Giles County is named after William Branch Giles, a senator from Virginia who sponsored the admission of Tennessee as the 16th state into the Union. He also sponsored the building of the city and courthouse, which has burned four times. The current courthouse was built in 1909.[4] One of Giles County's local heroes is James McCallum, who served as grandmaster of the Tennessee Masons, a member of the Confederate Congress, and mayor. He lived in Giles County for 70 years.
Until Maury County was established in November 1807, the area of the future Giles County was part of Williamson County. Two years after the formation of Maury County, Giles County was created from southern Maury County on November 14, 1809, by an act of the state legislature. Nearly half of the new county lay in Chickasaw territory until September 1816.[5]
Crime[edit]
On November 15, 1995, Giles County received minor notoriety after a shooting occurred at Richland High School in the community of Lynnville. A senior student named Jamie Rouse shot two teachers and a student in the north entrance of the school. One teacher (Carolyn Foster) and the student (Diane Collins) were killed, while teacher Carolyn Yancey was wounded in the crime. Rouse was convicted of the shooting and sentenced to life in prison without parole.[15][16]
In 2000, there were 1,268 arrests made in Giles County, with 781 arrests in the city of Pulaski. One homicide occurred in that year. Based on a 2003 recording conducted by the Uniform Crime Report, the delinquency rate dropped to 71 arrests being made, with 8.8 percent of the county population being arrested that year.[17] No homicides occurred in Giles County in 2003.