Warren County, Tennessee facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Warren County
U.S. county
Warren County Courthouse in McMinnville
Flag
Location within the U.S. state of Tennessee
Tennessee's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
Founded	1807
Named for	Joseph Warren
Seat	McMinnville
Largest city	McMinnville
Area
• Total	434 sq mi (1,120 km2)
• Land	433 sq mi (1,120 km2)
• Water	1.4 sq mi (4 km2)  3%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	40,953
• Density	92/sq mi (36/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	4th, 6th

Warren County is a county located on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,953. Its county seat is McMinnville. Warren County comprises the McMinnville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Warren County was created in 1807 from a portion of White County, and named for Joseph Warren (1741–1775), a militiaman and major general in the American Revolution. The revised Tennessee State Constitution of 1834 stated that no new county could be within 12 miles (19 km) of the county seat of the county from which it was formed. The boundaries of five counties formed from Warren— Grundy, Van Buren, Cannon, Coffee and DeKalb— were exactly 12 miles from Warren's county seat, McMinnville, giving the county its distinctive round shape. Warren 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. Hubbards Cave, near Camp Woodlee, was a major operation. Henshaw Cave on Cardwell Mountain (now part of Cumberland Caverns) and Solomon Saltpeter Cave on Ben Lomond Mountain were relatively small mining operations. Most saltpeter mining occurred during the War of 1812 and in the Civil War.

The county was largely developed for farming of such crops as tobacco and hemp. While numerous families held enslaved African Americans as workers, they were a minority of the population. Warren County citizens voted to secede from the Union before the American War Between the States in February 1861 in a state referendum. Voters in Tennessee overall decided to remain in the Union in that time. When President Abraham Lincoln demanded that Tennessee provide troops to fight against the Southern states in April 1861, it was viewed as a violation of Article 3, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution. At a new referendum in June 1861, Warren County again, along with a majority of Tennessee's counties, voted for secession. Unlike in some states, slavery was not listed as one of the reasons in Tennessee's secession proclamation.

Men from Warren County and surrounding upper Cumberland region formed and served in many units in Tennessee's defense, including the 16th Tennessee Infantry led by McMinnville resident Col. John Houston Savage. The Confederate monument next to the county courthouse is dedicated in the memory of the men who served and died in the 16th and lists their names.

Men from Warren County and upper Cumberland area joined the 16th TN Infantry Regiment, among others. Their flag is on display at the Texas 'Civil War' Museum in Fort Worth TX.

Geography

Twin Falls at Rock Island State Park

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 434 square miles (1,120 km²), of which 433 square miles (1,120 km²) is land and 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²) (0.3%) is water. The county lies long the Eastern Highland Rim, near the Cumberland Plateau.

The Caney Fork forms part of the county's borders with White and DeKalb counties to the north. The Rocky River, a tributary of the Caney Fork, forms part of the county's eastern border with Van Buren County. The Collins River, also a tributary of the Caney Fork, flows through the county, and the Barren Fork, a tributary of the Collins, flows through McMinnville.

Cardwell Mountain is an imposing natural feature located five miles due east of McMinnville. It is an erosional remnant of the nearby Cumberland Plateau. Cardwell Mountain is noted for Cumberland Caverns, an exceptionally long cave which lies underneath the mountain.

Adjacent counties

• DeKalb County (north)
• White County (northeast)
• Van Buren County (east)
• Sequatchie County (southeast)
• Grundy County (south)
• Coffee County (southwest)
• Cannon County (northwest)

Major highways

• U.S. Route 70S
• State Route 8
• State Route 30
• State Route 55
• State Route 56
• State Route 108
• State Route 136

State protected areas

• Hubbard's Cave State Natural Area
• Morrison Meadow State Natural Area
• Rock Island State Park (part)

Demographics

Age pyramid Warren County

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 40,953 people, 15,727 households, and 10,167 families residing in the county.

Recreation

Rock Island State Park is located on the northeastern border with White County. This park is the site of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Great Falls Dam, includes many hiking trails, and offers whitewater rafting.

Cumberland Caverns, located east of McMinnville under Cardwell Mountain, is Tennessee's largest show cave. It is the second longest mapped cave in Tennessee with 27.6 miles (44.4 km) of passages, and displays some of the largest cave rooms in eastern North America. Cumberland Caverns is the 15th longest cave in the United States.

Hubbard's Cave, the largest gray bat hibernaculum in Tennessee, with over 100,000 bats, is located in the county. The cave is owned by the Nature Conservancy and it is securely gated to protect the bats, which are an Endangered Species.

Falcon Rest, an 1896 Victorian mansion in McMinnville built by local manufacturer Clay Faulkner, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It is open to the public as a historic house museum. His father's mansion in the same city, Falconhurst, is also on the NRHP.

Communities

Railroad bridge over Barren Fork in McMinnville

City

• McMinnville (county seat)

Towns

• Centertown
• Morrison
• Viola

Unincorporated communities

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Warren (Tennessee) para niños