Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties.[1] Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital and largest city, Nashville, as well as Clarksville, the state's fifth largest city, and Murfreesboro, the state's sixth largest city and largest suburb of Nashville. The Nashville metropolitan area, located entirely within the region, is the most populous metropolitan area in the state, and the Clarksville metropolitan area is the state's sixth most populous. Middle Tennessee is both the largest, in terms of land area, and the most populous of the state's three Grand Divisions.
This article is about the geographic region of Middle Tennessee. For the university in Murfreesboro, see Middle Tennessee State University. For that university's athletic program, see Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.
Middle Tennessee
44,054.2 km2 (17,009.41 sq mi)
2,883,086
65.44/km2 (169.50/sq mi)
Middle Tennessean
Geographically, Middle Tennessee is composed of the Highland Rim, which completely surrounds the Nashville Basin. The Cumberland Plateau is located in the eastern part of the region. Culturally, Middle Tennessee is considered part of the Upland South.[2] Commodity crops such as cotton and tobacco were cultivated by migrant settlers in the region in the antebellum era, who were largely dependent on the labor of enslaved African Americans. In addition, planters bred and trained livestock, such as the world-famous Tennessee Walking Horse, which was developed as a breed in the region during this time.
Middle Tennessee was a crucial region during the American Civil War. Tennessee was occupied by Federal troops from 1862 through the end of the war. Many battles and campaigns were waged by Confederates in this region, especially in efforts to control the major rivers. Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest conducted extensive raids through this area, destroying many Union assets in the 1864 Battle of Johnsonville. The bloodiest major battle of the American Civil War by the proportion of engaged soldiers who became casualties, the Battle of Stones River, was also fought here.
In the 20th century, the Grand Ole Opry was established in Nashville, enhancing the city as the home of country music. Since the early 1970s, the region has been transformed by the entry of many new economic sectors, including automotive manufacturing, healthcare, finance, technology, tourism, and professional services. Both the Nashville and Clarksville metropolitan areas are among the fastest-growing regions in the nation.
History[edit]
Native Americans[edit]
Throughout the past 10,000 years, a number of different Native peoples are believed to have inhabited what is now Middle Tennessee. The region is believed to have been rich in game animals favored by Ice Age hunter-gatherers.[3] During the Mississippian period (1000–1600 AD), Native Americans established chiefdoms and constructed numerous earthwork mounds in the region, such as Mound Bottom in Cheatham County and the Castalian Springs site in Sumner County.[4] By the late 17th century, for unknown reasons, there were few Native Americans left in Middle Tennessee, but the Cherokee and the Chickasaw claimed the region as their hunting grounds.[5] Natives that had occupied what is now Middle Tennessee prior to this time may have died as a result of new infectious diseases indirectly introduced by European explorers.[4]
Education[edit]
Middle Tennessee has an abundance of institutions of higher learning—most notably Vanderbilt, Belmont, Lipscomb, and Tennessee State universities in Nashville and Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville. Other prominent universities are Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, the University of the South in Sewanee, Cumberland University in Lebanon, University of Tennessee Southern in Pulaski and Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, which is the state's second-largest institution of higher learning, just behind the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Legal structure[edit]
Unlike the geographic designations of regions of most U.S. states, the term Middle Tennessee has legal as well as socioeconomic meaning.[71] Middle Tennessee, West Tennessee, and East Tennessee are the state's three Grand Divisions. According to the Tennessee State Constitution, no more than two of the state supreme court's five justices can come from any one Grand Division. The Supreme Court rotates meeting in courthouses in each of the three divisions. The Supreme Court building for Middle Tennessee is in Nashville. A similar rule applies to certain other commissions and boards, in order to prevent a geographic bias.[72]
Transportation[edit]
Roads[edit]
Interstate 40 (I-40) traverses Middle Tennessee in an east to west alignment, passing through Nashville and its suburbs to the east. Interstate 65 (I-65) runs north to south through the region, serving Nashville and its suburbs to the north and south, including Brentwood, Franklin, and Spring Hill. Interstate 24 (I-24) enters the region in Clarksville and runs in a southeast to northwest alignment, passing through Nashville and its southeastern suburbs of La Vergne, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro, before exiting the region in the southeast. I-440 serves as a bypass around downtown Nashville, and I-840 is an outer bypass around Nashville, passing though suburban counties to the south. Other important freeways in Middle Tennessee include State Route 155 (SR 155/Briley Parkway), a northern bypass around downtown Nashville, Ellington Parkway, part of U.S. Route 31E (US 31E) in Nashville, SR 386 (Vietnam Veterans Boulevard), which serves Nashville's northwestern suburbs of Hendersonville and Gallatin, and SR 396 (Saturn Parkway), which connects Spring Hill and its General Motors plant to I-65. Middle Tennessee also has several other important corridors that are part of the National Highway System (NHS), including U.S. Routes 43, 64, 70S, 79, and 231, and State Routes 55 and 111.[77][78]