Putnam County | |
|---|---|
 Putnam County Courthouse | |
 Logo | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofTennessee | |
 Tennessee's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:36°08′N85°30′W / 36.14°N 85.5°W /36.14; -85.5 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Tennessee |
| Founded | February 11, 1854 |
| Named after | Israel Putnam[1] |
| Seat | Cookeville |
| Largest city | Cookeville |
| Government | |
| • County executive | Randy Porter (R)[2][3] |
| Area | |
• Total | 403 sq mi (1,040 km2) |
| • Land | 401 sq mi (1,040 km2) |
| • Water | 1.5 sq mi (3.9 km2) 0.4% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 79,854 |
• Estimate (2023) | 83,844 |
| • Density | 199/sq mi (76.9/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 38501, 38502, 38503, 38505, 38506, 38544, 38545, 38548, 39574, 38582 |
| Area code | 931 |
| Congressional district | 6th |
| Website | putnamcountytn |
Putnam County is acounty located in theU.S. state ofTennessee. As of the2020 census, the population was 79,854.[4] Itscounty seat isCookeville.[5] Putnam County is part of the Cookeville, TNMicropolitan Statistical Area.
Putnam County is named in honor ofIsrael Putnam, who was a hero in theFrench and Indian War and a general in theAmerican Revolutionary War. The county was initially established on February 2, 1842, when the Twenty-fourthTennessee General Assembly enacted a measure creating the county from portions ofJackson,Overton,Fentress, andWhite counties.[1]
After the survey was completed by Mounce Gore, the Assembly instructed the commissioners to locate the county seat, to be called "Monticello," near the center of the county. Contending, however, 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 atLivingston, 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 modernAlgood, acted as a temporary county seat.[6]
The act specified the "county town" be named "Cookeville" in honor of Richard F. Cooke, who served in theTennessee Senate from 1851 to 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 severalsaltpeter 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, 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 inMiddle Tennessee occurred during theWar of 1812 and theCivil War.[7]
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According to theU.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 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) (0.4%) is water.[8]
The county is part of the greaterCumberland River watershed. The southern part of the county is drained by tributaries of theCaney Fork, the northeastern part by tributaries of theObey River, and the north-central and northwestern parts of the county drain into the Cumberland'sCordell Hull Lake impoundment.[9] The sources of two tributaries of the Caney Fork, theFalling Water River and theCalfkiller River, lie nearMonterey in the eastern part of the county.
It is impossible to reach Cumberland Cove and Glade Creek without driving through another county.[10][11][12]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 8,558 | — | |
| 1870 | 8,698 | 1.6% | |
| 1880 | 11,501 | 32.2% | |
| 1890 | 13,683 | 19.0% | |
| 1900 | 16,890 | 23.4% | |
| 1910 | 20,023 | 18.5% | |
| 1920 | 22,231 | 11.0% | |
| 1930 | 23,759 | 6.9% | |
| 1940 | 26,250 | 10.5% | |
| 1950 | 29,869 | 13.8% | |
| 1960 | 29,236 | −2.1% | |
| 1970 | 35,487 | 21.4% | |
| 1980 | 47,690 | 34.4% | |
| 1990 | 51,373 | 7.7% | |
| 2000 | 62,315 | 21.3% | |
| 2010 | 72,321 | 16.1% | |
| 2020 | 79,854 | 10.4% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 83,844 | [13] | 5.0% |
| U.S. Decennial Census[14] 1790-1960[15] 1900-1990[16] 1990-2000[17] 2010-2014[4] | |||
| Race | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 66,782 | 83.63% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 2,161 | 2.71% |
| Native American | 161 | 0.2% |
| Asian | 1,086 | 1.36% |
| Pacific Islander | 33 | 0.04% |
| Other/Mixed | 3,375 | 4.23% |
| Hispanic orLatino | 6,256 | 7.83% |
As of the2020 United States census, there were 79,854 people, 31,778 households, and 19,395 families residing in the county.
As of thecensus[20] of 2010, there were 72,321 people, 28,930 households, and 18,489 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 181 people per square mile (70 people/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 orAfrican American, 0.4%Native American, 1.2%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 2.8% fromother races, and 1.5% from two or more races. 5.3% of the population wereHispanic orLatino 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% weremarried 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. Theper capita income for the county was $18,892. About 10.30% of families and 16.40% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 15.90% of those under age 18 and 16.10% of those age 65 or over.
According to the US Census for 2013 Putnam County has the highestwealth inequality of any United States county with a population of over 65,000.[21]
Cookeville, the largest town in Putnam County, is the home ofTennessee Technological University, which is known for its College of Education's undergraduate and graduate programs, its Engineering program's rigor, its College of Business alumni success, and the creativity of the College of Arts and Sciences. The largest college at Tennessee Tech is the College of Education. The university student population of 11,800 comprises one fourth of the resident population of Cookeville.[22]
The Putnam County school system enrolls approximately 12,000 students in 18 schools throughout the county. All schools are accredited. Cookeville High School is the largest non-metropolitan school in the state and is one of only eight high schools in the state to offer theInternational Baccalaureate program.[citation needed]
Putnam County has twenty-four county commissioners elected to twelve legislative districts, withtwo members per district.[23]
Putnam County is extremelyRepublican-leaning for anurban county anchored by a college town (Cookeville, the county seat, is home toTennessee Technological University); formerly a reliableSolid South county, Putnam has voted Republican in nearly every presidential election sinceRichard Nixon narrowly did so in1968, making exceptions forJimmy Carter andBill Clinton (both of whom are former governors of a neighboring state, namely and respectivelyGeorgia andArkansas).
Though favorite sonAl Gore was just over 2% short of carrying Putnam County in2000, he would be the last Democratic presidential candidate to come within a single-digit margin of doing so or even win so much as 40% of the county vote. In2008,John McCain won over 60% of the county's vote. In2020, RepublicanDonald Trump easily swept Putnam with over 70% of the county vote, while DemocratJoe Biden racked up less than 28% of the vote. Even the University precinct itself voted for Republican presidential candidates in2012,2016, 2020 and2024, although Phil Bredesen and Karl Dean did carry it handily in the 2018federal Senate andgubernatorial elections.[25] Despite this, Putnam was one of only four Tennessee counties Biden lost toBernie Sanders in the Democratic primary in 2020, indicating that the few Democrats left in Putnam County are unusually progressive.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1912 | 923 | 29.02% | 1,867 | 58.69% | 391 | 12.29% |
| 1916 | 1,383 | 37.51% | 2,300 | 62.38% | 4 | 0.11% |
| 1920 | 2,132 | 41.58% | 2,996 | 58.42% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 1,489 | 37.06% | 2,474 | 61.57% | 55 | 1.37% |
| 1928 | 1,612 | 42.91% | 2,145 | 57.09% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 1,281 | 30.40% | 2,911 | 69.08% | 22 | 0.52% |
| 1936 | 1,207 | 31.50% | 2,619 | 68.35% | 6 | 0.16% |
| 1940 | 1,576 | 34.68% | 2,963 | 65.21% | 5 | 0.11% |
| 1944 | 1,770 | 38.83% | 2,788 | 61.17% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 1,879 | 33.77% | 3,134 | 56.33% | 551 | 9.90% |
| 1952 | 3,183 | 43.73% | 4,096 | 56.27% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 3,492 | 43.63% | 4,481 | 55.98% | 31 | 0.39% |
| 1960 | 4,240 | 48.65% | 4,443 | 50.98% | 32 | 0.37% |
| 1964 | 2,993 | 32.18% | 6,309 | 67.82% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 3,693 | 35.83% | 3,541 | 34.36% | 3,073 | 29.81% |
| 1972 | 6,038 | 60.39% | 3,738 | 37.38% | 223 | 2.23% |
| 1976 | 4,079 | 32.10% | 8,485 | 66.77% | 144 | 1.13% |
| 1980 | 6,235 | 42.26% | 8,084 | 54.80% | 434 | 2.94% |
| 1984 | 8,999 | 54.40% | 7,443 | 45.00% | 99 | 0.60% |
| 1988 | 9,547 | 58.62% | 6,606 | 40.56% | 132 | 0.81% |
| 1992 | 7,998 | 37.23% | 10,858 | 50.54% | 2,626 | 12.22% |
| 1996 | 9,093 | 43.53% | 10,047 | 48.10% | 1,748 | 8.37% |
| 2000 | 11,248 | 50.13% | 10,785 | 48.07% | 405 | 1.80% |
| 2004 | 15,637 | 59.14% | 10,566 | 39.96% | 239 | 0.90% |
| 2008 | 17,101 | 62.60% | 9,739 | 35.65% | 476 | 1.74% |
| 2012 | 17,254 | 67.66% | 7,802 | 30.60% | 444 | 1.74% |
| 2016 | 19,002 | 69.83% | 6,851 | 25.18% | 1,359 | 4.99% |
| 2020 | 23,759 | 70.73% | 9,185 | 27.34% | 649 | 1.93% |
| 2024 | 25,554 | 73.14% | 8,991 | 25.73% | 394 | 1.13% |
Places adjacent to Putnam County, Tennessee | |
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Municipalities and communities ofPutnam County, Tennessee,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Towns | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
