Editing Dyersburg, Tennessee (section)

===19th century===
In 1823, the [[Tennessee General Assembly]] established two new counties immediately west of the [[Tennessee River]], Dyer County being one of them. John McIver and Joel H. Dyer donated {{convert|60|acre|m2}} for the new county seat, aptly named Dyersburg, at a central location within the county known as "McIver's Bluff". Dyer surveyed the town in 1825, laying out 86 lots.<ref name="tnenc" />  The county (and county seat) were named for Joel Dyer's father, Colonel Robert Henry Dyer. Col. Dyer served as the first postmaster of Dyersburg, and sat on its first chancery court.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Willoughby |first=Earl Jr. |title=Dyer County TNGenWeb: Robert Henry Dyer |url=https://www.tngenweb.org/dyer/military/dyer.php |access-date=March 14, 2024 |website=www.tngenweb.org}}</ref> The first [[courthouse]], a two story [[log cabin]], was constructed on the town square in 1827. It was replaced by a one-story frame building in 1836.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Dyersburg Courthouse Square Historic District |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/91000222 |publication-date=February 28, 1991}}</ref>

[[File:Map of Dyer County, Tennessee (1836).jpg|thumb|Map of Dyer County, Tennessee (1836)|left]]

One of the earlier settlers was McCullouch family. Alexander McCullouch, a [[War of 1812]] [[veteran]] who served as [[Aide-de-camp|aid-de-camp]] under [[John Coffee]] at the [[Battle of Horseshoe Bend]], moved his family in the late 1820s to a plantation west of Dyersburg from northern [[Alabama]]. He operated a general store in town for a number of years prior to his death in 1854.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Cutrer |first=Thomas W. |title=Ben McCulloch and the Frontier Military Tradition |date=1993 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=0807860948 |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina}}</ref> 

Dyersburg's early development hinged on its strategic location as a hub for [[steamboat]] navigation on the Forked Deer River. The success of the ''Grey Eagle'''s maiden voyage in 1836 solidified Dyersburg's status as a river town. The county's first industrial boom commenced in 1879 with the shipment of timber from A. M. Stevens Lumber Company to [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] markets via steamboat. This paved the way for further investments in timber processing, with the establishment of a large sawmill in 1880 and a planing mill in 1885. The financial sector also saw growth with the opening of the Bank of Dyersburg in 1880, while another timber industry, Nichols & Co. Wooden Bowl Factory, began operations in 1881.<ref name="tnenc" />