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Jasper, Tennessee
Town
Jasper City Hall
Jasper City Hall
Nickname(s): 
"Gateway to the beautiful Sequatchie Valley"
Motto(s): 
"The friendly city on the move!"
Location of Jasper in Marion County, Tennessee.
Location of Jasper in Marion County, Tennessee.
Location of Jasper on map of Tennessee
Location of Jasper on map of Tennessee
Jasper, Tennessee
Location in Tennessee
Country United States
State Tennessee
County Marion
Founded 1820
Incorporated 1959
Named for William Jasper
Area
 • Total 9.96 sq mi (25.78 km2)
 • Land 9.85 sq mi (25.50 km2)
 • Water 0.11 sq mi (0.28 km2)
Elevation
620 ft (190 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 3,612
 • Density 366.85/sq mi (141.64/km2)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
37347
Area code(s) 423
FIPS code 47-37820
GNIS feature ID 1289309

Jasper is a town in and the county seat of Marion County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,612 at the 2020 census. The town was formed in 1820 from lands acquired from Betsy Pack (1770–1851), daughter of Cherokee Chief John Lowery. Jasper is part of the Chattanooga, TNGA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Jasper is named for William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero from South Carolina.

Jasper was formed from land leased for $1 from Elizabeth aka "Betsy" Pack, daughter of Chief John Lowery and beloved Cherokee Woman Nannie Watts. Her descendants and friends of the family gather on a semi-annual basis to place flowers at the courthouse marker. The town's primary north-south street, which follows a section of Tennessee State Route 150, has been named in honor of Pack.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 9.2 square miles (24 km2), of which 9.0 square miles (23 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (1.42%) is water. The town lies in the southwestern Sequatchie Valley in a relatively flat area surrounded by steep escarpments of the Cumberland Plateau on the north and west, low hills on the east, and Guntersville Lake (part of the Tennessee River) on the south. The Sequatchie River flows just east of the town, and empties into the Tennessee River at the town's southeastern boundary. Kimball borders Jasper to the southwest.

Jasper's courthouse square lies at the intersection of U.S. Route 72 (Main Street) and Tennessee State Route 150 (Betsy Pack Drive). US-72 (which runs concurrently with U.S. Route 64 and U.S. Route 41 in Jasper) connects the town with Chattanooga to the southeast and Kimball, South Pittsburg, and Alabama to the southwest. State Route 150 connects Jasper with the Grundy County area atop the Plateau to the northwest. Tennessee State Route 28, part of the primary north-south corridor in the Sequatchie Valley, intersects US-72 in southeastern Jasper. Interstate 24 passes through Jasper's southern outskirts.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1860 249
1870 375 50.6%
1880 541 44.3%
1890 902 66.7%
1920 728
1930 1,251 71.8%
1960 1,450
1970 2,009 38.6%
1980 2,633 31.1%
1990 2,780 5.6%
2000 3,214 15.6%
2010 3,279 2.0%
2020 3,612 10.2%
Sources:

2020 census

Jasper racial composition
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 3,066 84.88%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 245 6.78%
Native American 7 0.19%
Asian 16 0.44%
Other/Mixed 187 5.18%
Hispanic or Latino 91 2.52%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 3,612 people, 1,376 households, and 906 families residing in the town.

Transportation

Marion County Airport, also known as Brown Field, is a county-owned, public-use airport located just over four and a half miles (7.2 km) southeast of the central business district of Jasper.

Gulf Filling Station - NARA - 280901
Gulf filling station, Jasper, TN, ca. 1929

Notable people

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Jasper (Tennessee) para niños

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