Header image from National Park Service.gov Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Tennessee was admitted: June 1, 1796 as the 16th state.
When Tennessee became a state the total population was 77,000.
Bird:Mockingbird . The mockingbird can imitate many sounds, including the chirps of some 35 different bird species. And the chatty flier can learn over 200 different songs in its lifetime. Northern mockingbirds are very smart animals. They are able to identify humans, especially those that tried to destroy their nests. Northern mockingbirds mate for a lifetime. Male and female build nest together and produce 2 to 4 broods per season. State bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas
Flower: Iris
The astringent rhizome of Iris has diuretic, purgative and emetic properties. Iris flowers appear on the Tennessee license plate. They are also the subject of one of the state’s official songs (“When It’s Iris Time in Tennessee.”) And each spring, residents from Chattanooga to Knoxville gather for the state’s annual Iris Festival which honors the Tennessee state flower with a rodeo, a floral show and coronation of (what else) an Iris queen. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, which is also the name for the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris.
Tree: Tulip Poplar
The tulip poplar (Liriodendron Tulipifera) was recognized as the official state tree of Tennessee in 1947. Tennessee also recognizes eastern red cedar (evergreen tree) and the yellowwood (bicentennial tree) as symbols of the state.
(Indiana and Kentucky also recognize tulip poplar as their official tree symbol).
According to the Tennessee Blue Book; “The tulip poplar was chosen because it grows from one end of the state to the other” and “was extensively used by the pioneers of the state to construct houses, barns, and other necessary farm buildings.” The tulip poplar is not actually a poplar tree, but a member of the magnolia family.
State Quarter
From theus50.com
The Tennessee quarter celebrates the state’s contributions to our nation’s musical heritage. The design incorporates musical instruments and a score with the inscription “Musical Heritage.” Three stars represent Tennessee’s three regions and the instruments symbolize each region’s distinct musical style.
The fiddle represents the Appalachian music of east Tennessee, the trumpet stands for the blues of west Tennessee for which Memphis is famous, and the guitar is for central Tennessee, home to Nashville, the capital of country music.
Capital: Nashville
Nickname: Volunteer State – Tennessee won its nickname as The Volunteer State during the War of 1812 when volunteer soldiers from Tennessee displayed marked valor in the Battle of New Orleans.
Tennesseeans are sometimes referred to as Butternuts, a tag which was first applied to Tennessee soldiers during the Civil War because of the tan color of their uniforms.
Motto: Agriculture and Commerce
Tennessee History
The name “Tennessee” originated from the old Yuchi Indian word, “Tana-see,” meaning “The Meeting Place.”
The first European to arrive in Tennessee was Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1541. He claimed the land for Spain, but it would be over 100 years later until Europeans began to settle the area.
In 1714, Charles Charleville built a small fort in Tennessee called Fort Lick. He traded furs with the local Indian tribes for many years. This area would eventually become the city of Nashville.
After the French and Indian War in 1763 between France and Britain, Britain took control of the land. They made it part of the colony of North Carolina. At the same time, they made a law that said colonists could not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Despite the British law, colonists began to settle in Tennessee. It was a land rich with furs and open land. The city of Nashborough was founded in 1779. It would later become Nashville, the capital city.
After the Revolutionary War, Tennessee became part of the United States. Eastern Tennessee became the State of Franklin in 1784, but this only lasted until 1788. In 1789, Tennessee became a U.S. Territory and on June 1, 1796 Congress made Tennessee the 16th state of the United States.
1815 – Andrew Jackson leads Tennessee troops to victory in the Battle of New Orleans.
When the Civil War broke out between the Union and the Confederacy in 1861, Tennessee was divided on which side to join. Eventually they decided to secede. Tennessee became the last southern state to join the Confederacy in June of 1861. Men from Tennessee went to fight on both sides of the war including 187,000 to the Confederacy and 51,000 to the Union. Tennessee ranks number one among other states in the total number of soldiers who fought in the War Between the States.
Tennessee was the last state to secede from the Union during the Civil War and the first state to be readmitted after the war.
A number of major Civil War battles were fought in Tennessee including the Battle of Shiloh, the Battle of Chattanooga, and the Battle of Nashville. The Union had control over much of Tennessee by the end of the war.
Andrew Johnson held every elective office at the local, state, and federal level, including President of the United States. He was elected alderman, mayor, state representative, and state senator from Greeneville. He served as governor and military governor of Tennessee and United States congressman, senator, and vice president, becoming President of the United States following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
In 1844 James K. Polk was elected 11th President of the United States. Born in North Carolina in 1795, his family moved to Tennessee in 1806. Polk became Speaker of the House of Representatives and Governor of Tennessee before becoming President.
Tennessee Facts and Trivia
In 1940 President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Conifer forests similar to those in Canada are found in the higher elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States. The park was named for the smoke-like bluish haze that often envelops these fabled mountains.
Iroquois, bred at Nashville’s Belle Meade Plantation, was the first American winner of the English Derby in 1881. Such modern thoroughbreds as Secretariat trace their bloodlines to Iroquois.
The Cherokee silversmith, Sequoyah, was the only known man in the history of the world to single-handedly develop an alphabet. His syllabus for the Cherokee Nation resulted in the first written language for a Native American people. The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore tells his story and is dedicated to the history and culture of Native Americans.
Cities:
Bristol is known as the Birthplace of Country Music.
The world’s largest artificial skiing surface is located at the Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort in Gatlinburg. There a 5-acre artificial ski surface permits skiing in any type of weather.
Davy Crockett was not born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, as the song says. He was born on the banks of Limestone Creek near Greeneville, where a replica of the Crockett’s log cabin stands today.
The city of Kingston served as Tennessee’s state capital for one day (September 21, 1807) as a result of treaties negotiated with the Cherokee Indians. The two-hour legislative session passed two resolutions and adjourned back to Knoxville.
Cumberland University, located in Lebanon, lost a football game to Georgia Tech on October 7, 1916 by a score of 222 to 0. The Georgia Tech coach was George Heisman for whom the Heisman Trophy is named.
Cotton made Memphis a major port on the Mississippi River. The Memphis Cotton Exchange still handles approximately one-third of the entire American cotton crop each year.
Elvis Presley’s home called Graceland is located in Memphis. Graceland is the second most visited house in the country.
The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is at the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was slain in 1968. The museum preserves the motel and tells the history of the American Civil Rights Movement.
The city of Murfreesboro lies in the exact geographical center of the state.
Nashville‘s Grand Ole Opry is the longest continuously running live radio program in the world. It has broadcast every Friday and Saturday night since 1925.
A replica of The Parthenon, the famous ancient Greek building in Athens, Greece, stands in Nashville‘s Centennial Park.
The capitol building was designed by noted architect William Strickland, who died during its construction and is buried within its walls.
Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville introduced to the world the plaintive beauty and tradition of the Negro spiritual, which became the basis for other genres of African-American music. It was because of their successful tours to raise funds for the university during the 1870s that Nashville first became known for its music.
Oak Ridge was instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb. Today, because of constant energy research, it is known as the Energy Capital of the World.
The largest earthquake in American history, the New Madrid Earthquake occurred in the winter of 1811-12 in northwestern Tennessee. Reelfoot Lake located in Obion and Lake Counties was formed during this earthquake. Reputed “Turtle Capital of the World,” Reelfoot Lake also features thousands of sliders, stinkpots, mud and map turtles.
The “Guinness Book of World Records” lists the Lost Sea in Sweetwater as the largest underground lake in the United States.
Like Kentucky, Tennessee has voted for Republican Presidents since 1960 except when the Democratic candidate was a southerner, ie, Lyndon B Johnson in 1964, Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Tennessee voted for Donald Trump by a 60.7% margin.
Strange Laws:
Carrying a skunk over state borders is a huge no-no.
You can move in with your girlfriends, but not TOO many of them. If eight or more women are living together in a Tennessee house it is considered a brothel.
Holding hands is considered a gateway to sexual activity, so it is illegal on school grounds.
It’s illegal to post images online if they are meant to cause emotional distress – that is, it’s illegal if there is no legitimate purpose.
Panhandlers must first get a $10 permit in Memphis before they beg on the streets.
People:
- James Agee, writer, poet
- Eddy Arnold, singer
Chet Atkins, guitarist- Polly Bergen, Actress-singer, also the first woman to serve on the Board of Directors of the Singer Sewing Machine Company.
- Hattie Caraway, the first woman United States Senator.
- Samuel Powhatan Carter, the only person in American history to be both an Admiral in the Navy and a General in the Army
- Davy Crockett, frontiersman
- Lester Flatt, bluegrass musician
Tennessee Ernie ,singer- Morgan Freeman, actor
- Aretha Franklin, singer
- Albert Gore Jr., U.S. vice president
- Sandra Locke, actress
- Dolly Parton, singer
- Minnie Pearl, singer, comedienne
- Cybil Shepherd, actress
Dinah Shore, actress, singer- Tina Turner, singer
Credits:
See 50 states.com
See dusksters.com