| Putnam County, Tennessee | |
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Putnam County Court House in Cookeville, TN
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Location in the state of Tennessee |
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Tennessee's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 11 February 1854 |
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| Seat | Cookeville |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
403 sq mi (1,044 km²) 401 sq mi (1,039 km²) 2 sq mi (5 km²), 0.37% |
| Population - (2010) - Density |
72,321 181/sq mi (70/km²) |
| Website | www.putnamcountytn.gov |
Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 62,315, a 21 percent increase from 1990. The 2010 Census population was 72,321, an increase of 16.1% since 2000. Its county seat is Cookeville[1].
Putnam County is part of the Cookeville, Tennessee, Micropolitan Statistical Area.
After its original formation in 1842 was declared unconstitutional, Putnam County was firmly established 11 February 1854 when Richard Fielding Cooke's bill, with amendments, cleared the Tennessee House. Putnam County was again a reality. The name is in honor of Israel Putnam.
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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 403 square miles (1,040 km2), of which 401 square miles (1,040 km2) is land and 2 square miles (5.2 km2) (0.37%) is water.
As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 72,321 people, 28,930 households, and 18,489 families residing in the county. The population density was 181 people per square mile (70/km²). There were 31,882 housing units at an average density of 80 per square mile (31/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.0% White, 2.0% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.8% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. 5.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 28,930 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% were married couples living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.00% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the county, the population was spread out with 22.30% under the age of 18, 14.70% from 18 to 24, 27.90% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 13.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,092, and the median income for a family was $39,553. Males had a median income of $29,243 versus $21,001 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,892. About 10.30% of families and 16.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.90% of those under age 18 and 16.10% of those age 65 or over.
Putnam County is named in honor of Israel Putnam, who was a hero in the French and Indian War and a general in the American Revolutionary War.
Putnam County was first established on 2 February 1842 when the Twenty-fourth Tennessee General Assembly enacted a measure creating Putnam County from portions of Jackson, Overton, Fentress, and White Counties. Isaac Buck, Burton Marchbanks, Henry L. McDaniel, Lawson Clark, Carr Terry, Richard F. Cooke, H. D. Marchbanks, Craven Maddox, and Elijah Con, all of Jackson County, were named by the Act to superintend the surveying of the new county.
Surveying was done by Mounce Gore, also of Jackson County, and the Assembly instructed them to locate the county seat, to be called "Monticello," near the center of the county. However contending that the formation of Putnam was illegal because it reduced their areas below constitutional limits, Overton and Jackson counties secured an injunction against its continued operation. Putnam officials failed to reply to the complaint, and in the March, 1845 term of the Chancery Court at Livingston, Chancellor Bromfield L. Ridley declared Putnam unconstitutionally established and therefore dissolved. The 1854 act reestablishing Putnam was passed after Representative Henderson M. Clements of Jackson County assured his colleagues that a new survey showed that there was sufficient area to form the county. White Plains, near modern Algood, acted as a temporary county seat.[4]
The act specified the "county town" be named "Cookeville" in honor of Richard F. Cooke, who served in the Tennessee Senate from 1851–1854, representing at various times Jackson, Fentress, Macon, Overton and White Counties. The act authorized Joshua R. Stone and Green Baker from White County, William Davis and Isaiah Warton from Overton County, John Brown and Austin Morgan from Jackson County, William B. Stokes and Bird S. Rhea from DeKalb County, and Benjamin A. Vaden and Nathan Ward from Smith County to study the Conner survey and select a spot, not more than two and one-half miles from the center of the county, for the courthouse. The first County Court chose a hilly tract of land then owned by Charles Crook for the site.
Putnam County was the site of several saltpeter mines. Saltpeter is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from several local caves. Calfkiller Saltpeter Cave, located in the Calfkiller Valley, was a major mining operation as was Johnson Cave, which is also located in the Calfkiller Valley. Both caves still contain significant remnants of the mining activity. Several other caves in the county were the site of smaller operations. Most saltpeter mining in Middle Tennessee occurred during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. (Thomas C. Barr, Jr., "Caves of Tennessee", Bulletin 64 of the Tennessee Division of Geology, 1961, 568 pages.)
Cookeville, the largest town in Putnam County, is the home of Tennessee Technological University, which is known for its engineering programs, its school of education, its business school and its center for rural health. The largest college at Tennessee Tech is its College of Arts and Sciences. The university student population of 11,800 comprises a third of the resident population of Cookeville.
The Putnam County school system [1] enrolls 11,000 students in 18 schools spread throughout the county. All its schools are accredited. The largest, Cookeville High School[2], is the largest non-metropolitan school in the state and is one of only eight high schools in the state to offer the International Baccalaureate program.
Tom Waits sings a song about life in Putnam County on the 1975 album, "Nighthawks at the Diner".
| Jackson County | Overton County | Fentress County | ||
| Smith County | Cumberland County | |||
| Putnam County, Tennessee | ||||
| DeKalb County | White County |
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