Pinson, Tennessee

Pinson, Tennessee
—  Unincorporated Community  —
Pinson's small commercial strip runs along the western side of
U.S. Route 45.
Pinson, Tennessee
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Tennessee
County Madison
Elevation 381 ft (116 m)
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s) 731

Pinson is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 45 between Jackson and Henderson, just north of the Chester County line. It is included in the Jackson, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area.[1] It is most noteworthy as being the site of the Pinson Mounds, the largest Middle Woodland period Indian mound group in the United States, and the Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park dedicated to their study.[2]

History

Around 1820, a group of five surveyors, including Joel Pinson and Memucan Hunt Howard, discovered a platform mound while surveying land grants for Colonel Thomas Henderson. The surveyors dubbed the mound Mount Pinson.[3] The complex, built about 500 CE, contains 17 mounds, an earthwork enclosure, and habitation areas.

Around 1866, the town of Pinson was founded near the site of the mounds on land originally belonging to A. S. Rogers.[3]

The town was hit by a devastating tornado on March 11, 1923, which destroyed about 50 homes and killed at least 18 people.[4] It has been estimated that the tornado was an F5 on the Fujita scale based on damage reports.[5][6]

The former Pinson High School was one of several consolidated into South Side High School (Jackson, Tennessee) in 1956.[7]

References

  1. ^ "OMB Bulletin No 08-01". U.S. Census Bureau. November 2007. pp. 36. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/fy2008/b08-01.pdf. 
  2. ^ Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park at Tennessee.gov. Retrieved on May 18, 2006.
  3. ^ a b Miller, Larry L. (2001). Tennessee Place Names. Indiana University Press. pp. 165–166. 
  4. ^ "Tennessee and Kentucky Storm Dead Near 30". Nashville Tennessean: pp. 1, 8. March 13, 1923. 
  5. ^ Grazulis, Thomas P. (2001). F5-F6 Tornadoes. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project. 
  6. ^ "US F4, F5 Tornadoes Since 1900". Castor Weather. Archived from the original on 2007-02-28. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20070228122104/http://www.castorweather.com/USF4F5.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-10. 
  7. ^ South Side High School: About The School. Retrieved on December 6, 2009.