Editing Cookeville, Tennessee (section)

===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>