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Montgomery County, Tennessee

Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 220,069.[3] The county seat (and only incorporated municipality) is Clarksville.[4] The county was created in 1796.[5][6] Montgomery County is included in the Clarksville, TN–KY Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Montgomery County

 United States

April 9, 1796

Clarksville

Wes Golden (R)[2]

544 sq mi (1,410 km2)

539 sq mi (1,400 km2)

4.7 sq mi (12 km2)  0.9%

220,069 Increase

239,872 Increase

388/sq mi (150/km2)

7th

History[edit]

The county was named for John Montgomery, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War and an early settler who founded the city of Clarksville. It was authorized on April 9, 1796, when the western portion of Tennessee County, which since 1790 had been part of the Territory South of the River Ohio, became part of the new state of Tennessee. (In 1790, North Carolina had ceded its western lands to the Federal government to create what was also known as the Southwest Territory.) The eastern portion of old Tennessee County was, at the same time Montgomery County was formed, combined with land taken from Sumner County to form Robertson County, Tennessee. Later acts of the Tennessee General Assembly had further reduced Montgomery County by 1871 to its current size and boundaries.[6]


Montgomery County was the site of several early saltpeter mines. Saltpeter is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from local caves. Bellamy Cave near Stringtown still contains the remains of two dozen saltpeter leaching vats. It appears to have been a large operation. Cooper Creek Cave shows evidence of extensive mining and contains the remains of "many saltpeter hoppers." Both were probably mined during the War of 1812. Dunbar Cave is reported to have been mined for saltpeter during the Mexican War of 1848, but commercial development has destroyed any evidence of this. Little mining is likely to have happened here during the Civil War, since the Union Army captured and occupied this part of Tennessee in early 1862.[7]

Government[edit]

County Government[edit]

The county mayor is the chief executive officer. Voters elect the county mayor at-large and certain other county-level positions, including the sheriff. The current mayor is Republican Wes Golden.[24]


The Board of County Commissioners, which is the county legislative body, consists of 21 members elected for four-year terms from Single-member districts based on roughly equal populations.[25]

(county seat)

Clarksville

Education[edit]

Clarksville-Montgomery County School System serves most of the county. Portions in Fort Campbell however are zoned to Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools.[29] Fort Campbell High School is the zoned high school for Fort Campbell.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Montgomery County, Tennessee

List of counties in Tennessee

Official website

- free genealogy resources for the county

Montgomery County, TNGenWeb

at Curlie

Montgomery County