Jackson County, Tennessee

Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 11,617 at the 2020 census. Its county seat is Gainesboro. Jackson is part of the Cookeville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Jackson County was created by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly on November 6, 1801. It was the 18th county established in the state. It was formed from part of Smith County plus Indian lands. The name honors Andrew Jackson, who by 1801 had already served as a U.S. Congressman and Senator from Tennessee, a Tennessee Supreme Court justice, and a colonel in the Tennessee militia. He became more widely known as commander at the Battle of New Orleans and as the seventh President of the United States.

In the 1790s, an Army outpost named Fort Blount was built 10 miles (16 km) west of Gainesboro on the Cumberland River, in what is now western Jackson County. Fort Blount was an important stop for travelers on Avery's Trace. Williamsburg, a town developed around the fort, served as the Jackson County seat from 1807 to 1819. The county's early records were all lost in a disastrous courthouse fire on August 14, 1872.

The 1970 Movie "I Walk The Line" starring Gregory Peck was filmed in Gainesboro and Jackson County.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 320 square miles (830 km²), of which 308 square miles (800 km²) is land and 11 square miles (28 km²) (3.5%) is water.

Unlike most of Tennessee, small parts of far northern Jackson County drain into Jennings Creek outside of the Sun Belt due to a past error surveying the northern border of Middle and East Tennessee. The Sun Belt is defined by the Kinder Institute as being south of 36°30'N latitude, which was intended to be the northern border of Tennessee and is the actual northern border of West Tennessee.

As of the 2020 census, the county had 11,617 people, 4,907 households, and 5,819 housing units, 15.7% of which were vacant. The median age was 47.4 years, with 18.9% of residents under the age of 18 and 23.0% aged 65 or older. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.8 males.

Of the 4,907 households, 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 48.0% were married-couple households, 20.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.8% of households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.