Jacks Creek, Tennessee

Jacks Creek (or Jack's Creek) is an unincorporated community in Chester County, Tennessee, United States.[1]

Geography

The community is situated on Highway 100E. It has an elevation of 515 ft. Its zip code is 38347.[2]

History

The area was settled in the 1820s.[3] There are multiple legends about the source of the name of the creek running though the community which bears its name. They agree only in that the "Jack" after whom it was named was a young African-American slave boy, who either drowned in the creek, discovered the excellence of its water, or was captured by Indians on its banks.[4]

John Marshall Stone made his home here before moving in 1855 to Mississippi, where he would eventually become governor of that state. There were two minor incidents near Jacks Creek during the Civil War: a skirmish one mile north of town, on September 12, 1863; and a one-day battle one mile south of town involving a Confederate unit under Nathan Bedford Forrest and United States Army troops out of Corinth, Mississippi, on December 23, 1863.[5]

In 1937 the community became the site of the Jack's Creek Intermediate Landing Field, an airport on the flight line between Nashville and Memphis that was designated as an emergency landing field. At one time it was the second largest landing field in the United States, with two runways, a beacon light and a radio control tower. During World War II the airfield was used by the U.S. Army Air Force as a practice site.[3]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ "Jacks Creek, Tennessee". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. ↑ United States Postal Service (2012). "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Henderson/Chester County Chamber of Commerce website, accessed September 13, 2008
  4. ↑ 'Chester County Historical Society. 'Chester County, Tennessee, 1882-1995: History and Families Paducah: Turner Publishing Company, 1998; p. 14
  5. ↑ Tennessee state historical marker in Jack's Creek

Coordinates: 35°28′07″N 88°31′15″W / 35.46861°N 88.52083°W