Editing Cookeville, Tennessee (section)

==History==
{{expand section|date=October 2020}}

===Early years and establishment===
Before European settlement, the Cookeville area was dominated by the [[Cherokee]] tribe since the [[Paleo-Indians|Paleo-Indian]] era. The Cherokee used the region as hunting grounds. Cherokee claims to the land in the [[Cumberland Plateau]] ended after the [[Treaty of Tellico]] was signed in October 1805.<ref name="CPC"/> The area surrounding Cookeville and Putnam County was first reported to be settled by [[Virginia]] and [[North Carolina]] longhunters in the late 1700s to early 1800s, most of whom were of [[English settlers|English]] and [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch-Irish]] descent.<ref name="cookehistory">{{cite web |title=Cookeville History |url=https://www.cookeville-tn.gov/419/Cookeville-History |website=City of Cookeville |access-date=December 30, 2020}}</ref> Settlers arrived by [[Avery's Trace]], which was known as the Walton Road in the area of present-day Cookeville. Putnam County was established in 1842, formed from parts of [[White County, Tennessee|White]], [[Overton County, Tennessee|Overton]], [[Jackson County, Tennessee|Jackson]], [[Smith County, Tennessee|Smith]], and [[DeKalb County, Tennessee|DeKalb]] Counties after the population increased sufficiently, straining those counties' abilities to support services to the isolated residents.<ref name="cookehistory"/> Entering the 19th century, the area was dominated economically by the rise of agriculture, logging, and timber production.<ref name="CPC"/> Putnam County reestablished itself in 1854, with the establishment of a county seat required by new Tennessee state law.<ref name="CPC"/> In the same year, land purchased by Charles Crook became the area where the new county seat was established since it has access to [[Spring (hydrology)|natural springs]] able to support a town.<ref name="cookehistory"/><ref name="CPC">{{cite book | title = Cookeville and Putnam County |last= Friends of the Cookeville History Museum| publisher = Arcadia Publishing | year = 2008 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gQcJEqJOkCYC&pg=PP1 | isbn = 9780738553870 }}</ref> The city was named Cookeville for Richard Fielding Cooke, a pioneer who settled in the area in 1810.<ref name="cookehistory"/>  Cooke was twice elected to the state senate, and was influential in establishing Putnam County in 1854.<ref>{{cite web | title = Historic Putnam County | publisher = Historic Tours Committee | date = 1976 | url = http://www.ajlambert.com/history/hst_whpc.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Walker Davies | first = Sally | title = Explorer's Guide Tennessee | publisher = Countryman Press | year = 2011 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FTYG0iCQOD4C&pg=PP1 | pages = 184| isbn = 9780881508987 }}</ref>

===Antebellum and Civil War era===
The largely rugged landscape of the Cookeville area made it unsuitable for large-scale farming operations compared to most of the larger [[Middle Tennessee]] region. Still, several farming institutions operated in the region, some using African [[Slavery in the United States|slave laborers]].<ref name="CPC"/> After Tennessee seceded from the United States in 1861, residents of the Cookeville area were divided about the [[American Civil War]]. Most opposed secession. Cookeville residents enrolled to assist in both the armies of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] and the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. Several aggressions occurred during the war, including the burning of the Putnam County Courthouse in Cookeville's city square, the slaying of 20 and capture of 40 Confederate soldiers by Union Army Colonel Henry McConnell, and the Battle of Dug Hill.<ref name="civilwarPC">{{cite web |title=Civil War in Putnam County |url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm13EEW_Civil_War_in_Putnam_County_Cookeville_TN |website=Waymarking.com |access-date=January 9, 2022 |date=November 23, 2020}}</ref>

Economic and cultural growth in Cookeville stagnated as a result of the political divide over secession, causing animosity among neighbors and families.<ref name="civilwarPC"/> The tides turned by the late 1800s, after the city's first hotel, the Isbell, was completed in 1886, and the [[Nashville and Knoxville Railroad]] in 1890.<ref name="2030plan">{{cite web |title=Cookeville 2030 Plan |url=https://www.cookeville-tn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/640/Cookeville-2030-Plan-PDF?bidId= |website=City of Cookeville |access-date=January 10, 2022 |date=2010}}</ref>

===20th century===
The investment made by railroad companies placed Cookeville on a path of considerable economic and industrial development with the Nashville and Knoxville railroad, which became the Tennessee Central Railroad. With this growth, Cookeville officially [[Municipal corporation|incorporated]] into a chartered city in 1903.<ref name="mtas"/> Two years later, the city established the Cookeville Light and Water Department, when electricity was first distributed in the city.<ref name="2030plan"/> In 1909, the Tennessee Central Railroad constructed the [[Cookeville Railroad Depot|Cookeville Depot]] in the city's West Side District, providing passenger rail service until 1955.<ref name="cdmhistoy">{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.cookevilledepot.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=55 |website=Cookeville Depot Museum |access-date=January 9, 2022}}</ref>

In 1909, local religious leaders with the aid of the Tennessee state government established the University of Dixie, a private university deeded to the community. The state government seized the institution in 1915 following decline in enrollment and financial support. The government reestablished it as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, a public [[institute of technology]] focused on education in [[science, technology, engineering, and mathematics]].<ref name="CPC"/><ref name="tntechhistory">{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.tntech.edu/about/history.php |website=Tennessee Tech |access-date=January 9, 2022}}</ref> The university made Cookeville a regional education hub and college town, increasing its population and post-secondary education enrollment. In 1965, it was renamed [[Tennessee Technological University]].<ref name="2030plan"/>

With the advancement rail access, Cookeville began to industrialize with the rise of [[textile manufacturing]], [[Coal mining in the United States|coal mining]], and the rapid expansion of the timber production industry.<ref name="CPC"/> The railroad's dominance declined by the beginning of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]]. By 1930, the completion of U.S. Route 70N, the northern branch of [[U.S. Route 70 in Tennessee|U.S. Route 70]], Cookeville's first modern highway, prompted further expansion of Cookeville's industrial and commercial markets. The [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]]' large-scale [[Center Hill Dam]] project provided jobs for Cookeville residents, and after its completion, provided advanced electricity production for industrial development, flood control of the nearby [[Caney Fork River]], and recreational sites with the design of [[Edgar Evins State Park|Edgar Evins]] and [[Burgess Falls State Park|Burgess Falls]] state parks.<ref name="CPC"/><ref name="CHEIS">{{cite web |author1=United States Army Corps of Engineers |author2=Tennessee Valley Authority |title=Center Hill Dam and Lake, Dekalb County, Changes to Center Hill Lake Elevations: Environmental Impact Statement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fDI0AQAAMAAJ |website=Google Books |publisher=United States Army Corps of Engineers |access-date=January 9, 2022 |date=2007}}</ref>

Other infrastructure additions to the city beneficial to the city's growth included a water treatment plant in 1946, the Cookeville General Hospital in 1950, and a wastewater treatment plant in 1952.<ref name="2030plan"/>

[[File:Johns-place-cookeville-tn.jpg|thumb|John's Place at 11 Gibson Ave.]]
During the [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow era]] of the 1950s, John's Place was one business where white and black locals could socialize together. John's Place originally opened as Ed's Place in 1949, and was later known as McClellan's Cafe and finally John's Place as of 1957. At 11 Gibson Avenue, off West Spring Street, it was a [[grocery store]] and [[restaurant]]. John's Place is known for its [[southern cuisine]]—fried chicken, catfish, meatloaf, and corn bread—as well as beer. Many local white people encountered their first [[African American]] at the restaurant.<ref name="King">{{cite news |last1=King |first1=Heather |title=John's Place in Cookeville awaits national recognition. |url=http://www.tntechoracle.com/2011/02/18/johns-place-in-cookeville-awaits-national-recognition/ |access-date=June 14, 2022 |publisher=The Oracle |date=February 18, 2011}}</ref> John's Place was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2011.<ref name="NRHP">{{cite book |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/135819425 |title=Tennessee SP John's Place. |website=National Archives Catalog |series=File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Tennessee, January 1, 1964 - December 31, 2013 |publisher=United States Government |access-date=June 14, 2022}}</ref>

By 1966, the [[Interstate 40 in Tennessee|Interstate 40]] corridor was completed south of the city center, prompting annexation of several of the freeway's interchanges for commercial development.<ref name="CPC"/> After its end of passenger rail use in 1955, the Cookeville Depot fell into disrepair. A group of local residents and preservationists worked to save the depot from demolition, and the Cookeville city government eventually purchased it. The group responsible for its preservation restored the depot and reopened it as a museum in 1985, the year it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="cdmhistoy"/>

By the 1970 census, Cookeville's population had increased by more than 80% from 1960, as it rose from a predominately rural town into a larger hub city with increased enrollment at Tennessee Technological University and Interstate 40 positioning the city for increased employment opportunities.<ref name="CPC"/>

The city's establishment as the economic hub of the Upper Cumberland region strengthened with the construction and completion of [[Tennessee State Route 111]], also known as [[Appalachian Development Highway System]] Corridor J. Corridor J, which went through the engineering phase in 1978<ref name="corridorj1">{{cite web |author1=Federal Highway Administration |author2=Tennessee Department of Transportation |title=SR-111 Reconstruction, Appalachian Hwy Corridor J, White/Putnam Counties |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uKI1AQAAMAAJ |website=Google Books |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |access-date=January 10, 2022 |date=1978}}</ref> and was completed in the late 1980s, provides [[Limited-access road|expressway-grade]] access to Cookeville from communities in [[Overton County, Tennessee|Overton]] and [[White County, Tennessee|White]] counties.<ref name="2030plan"/>

Throughout the 1990s, the Cookeville Public Works and Engineering Department constructed several [[collector road|collector streets]] that aided commercial development along the northern side of the I-40 corridor in the city.<ref name="2030plan"/>

===Modern day===
[[File:President Trump in Tennessee (49646131911).jpg|thumb|Aftermath of the March 2020 tornado in West Cookeville]]
Cookeville embarked on one of its recorded largest expansions of its [[city limits]] when it annexed over 10 square miles of previously unincorporated Putnam County between 2000 and 2009.<ref name="2030plan"/> In 2007, city officials approved the purchase of over 400 acres for a regional [[industrial park]] known as the Highlands Business Park.<ref name="2030plan"/> In 2008, Cookeville General Hospital, then recently renamed the Cookeville Regional Medical Center, completed a major renovation and expansion project as a result of the city's and region's population growth.<ref name="2030plan"/>

===2020 tornado===
{{Main|2020 Nashville tornado outbreak#Putnam County–Cookeville, Tennessee}}

In the early morning of March 3, 2020, an [[Enhanced Fujita scale|EF4]] tornado touched down west of Cookeville, damaging several of the city's western outskirt neighborhoods. It killed 19 people, injured 87, and caused more than $100 million in damages. Tennessee Tech closed for two days, encouraging student volunteers to assist first responders in rescue and clean-up. The tornado's estimated maximum wind speed of 175&nbsp;mph along its nearly nine-mile path was recorded as the strongest storm of the outbreak.<ref name="OHX">{{cite report|author=National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Nashville, Tennessee|title=March 2-3, 2020 Tornadoes and Severe Weather|url=https://www.weather.gov/ohx/20200303|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|date=March 5, 2020}}</ref>