Hickman County, Tennessee

Hickman County Education, Geography, and History

Hickman County is a county located in the state of Tennessee. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 24,690. Its county seat is Centerville.

Hickman County is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Hickman County Name

Named in honor of Edwin Hickman (?-1791), longhunter who while on a mission to survey land on the Piney River was killed by Indians near the present site of Centerville.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

History of Hickman County

Created 1807 from Dickson County; named in honor of Edwin Hickman (?-1791), longhunter who while on a mission to survey land on the Piney River was killed by Indians near the present site of Centerville.

Hickman County was formed in 1807 from Dickson County
(Acts of Tennessee 1807, Chapter 44).

There was a fire at the Hickman County courthouse in 1864.

Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
The history of Hickman County began before Tennessee achieved statehood in 1796. In April 1791 Edwin Hickman, a native of North Carolina, led a surveying party into what is now Hickman County. Hickman's party included James Robertson, later known as the Father of Middle Tennessee, Robert Weakley, who also played a prominent role in early state history, and others. The party camped at the mouth of a small creek on the north side of Duck River opposite the present site of Centerville.

The next morning, as Hickman and Robertson built a predawn fire, Indians fired on the party, killing Hickman and wounding Robertson in the hand. The party retreated to the Cumberland settlement but returned several days later to bury Hickman's body in a shallow grave at the spot where he was killed. In December 1807, when the Tennessee General Assembly created a new county, then Representative Robert Weakley attached an amendment to the bill specifying that the new county should be named in honor of Edwin Hickman. In 1994 the Hickman County Historical Society placed a monument at Hickman's grave and built a fence around the gravesite.

In 1807 the county extended all the way to the present Alabama state line, and Vernon, on the Piney River, became the first county seat. By 1820 several new counties had been created out of Hickman County, and a movement began to move the county seat to a more central location. In 1823 the new town of Centerville became the county seat. As a result of the bitterness over the change, the old log courthouse at Vernon was dismantled at night and hauled to Centerville, along with the court records. Other Hickman County communities in addition to Centerville and Vernon include Aetna, Bon Aqua, Coble, Farmers Exchange, Little Lot, Lyles, Nunnely, Only, Pinewood, Pleasantville, Shady Grove, and Wrigley. Find more from the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture: HICKMAN COUNTY

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 613 square miles (1,587 km²), of which, 613 square miles (1,586 km²) of it is land and 0 square miles (0 km²) of it (0.03%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Dickson County (north)
• Williamson County (east)
• Maury County (southeast)
• Lewis County (south)
• Perry County (west)
• Humphreys County (northeast)
  

Education

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