Monteagle, Tennessee
Encyclopedia
Monteagle is a town in Franklin
, Grundy, and Marion
counties in the U.S. state
of Tennessee
, in the Cumberland Plateau
region of the southeastern part of the state. The population was 1,238 at the 2000 census – 804 of the town's 1,238 residents (64.9%) lived in Grundy County, 428 (34.6%) in Marion County, and 6 (0.5%) in Franklin County.
The Marion County portion of Monteagle is part of the Chattanooga
, TN–GA
Metropolitan Statistical Area
, while the Franklin County portion is part of the Tullahoma
, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area
.
Monteagle is most famous for the treacherous stretch of Interstate 24
that passes through the town. It is here that the highway passes over what is colloquially referred to as "The Monteagle" or "Monteagle Mountain
", a section of the southern Cumberland Plateau
which is a major landmark on the road between Chattanooga and Nashville
. The interstate regularly shuts down in inclement weather, routing traffic onto U.S. Highway 41. In the Jerry Reed
song "The Legend", which is the opening track in the film Smokey and the Bandit
, Reed tells the story of the Bandit miraculously surviving brake failure on the "Monteagle Grade." There is also a song called "Monteagle Mountain" by Johnny Cash
on the album Boom Chicka Boom
.
The town is home to the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly
. The Highlander Folk School, long involved in the labor and civil rights movements, was located here from 1932 to 1961. Rosa Parks attended workshops there shortly before the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the town has a total area of 8.2 square miles (21.4 km²), of which, 8.1 square miles (21.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (1.33%) is water.
of 2000, there were 1,238 people, 477 households, and 321 families residing in the town. The population density
was 152.2 people per square mile (58.7/km²). There were 701 housing units at an average density of 86.2 per square mile (33.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.45% White, 1.37% African American, 0.32% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.08% from other races
, and 1.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.48% of the population.
There were 477 households out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples
living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the town the population was spread out with 19.5% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 25.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $24,464, and the median income for a family was $29,886. Males had a median income of $24,643 versus $17,708 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $12,983. About 21.7% of families and 25.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.4% of those under age 18 and 17.6% of those age 65 or over.
Franklin County, Tennessee
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 41,052. Its county seat is Winchester.Franklin County is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee, Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, Grundy, and Marion
Marion County, Tennessee
Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 27,776. Its county seat is Jasper.Marion County is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:According to the U.S...
counties in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, in the Cumberland Plateau
Cumberland Plateau
The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia, part of Tennessee, and a small portion of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia . The terms "Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the...
region of the southeastern part of the state. The population was 1,238 at the 2000 census – 804 of the town's 1,238 residents (64.9%) lived in Grundy County, 428 (34.6%) in Marion County, and 6 (0.5%) in Franklin County.
The Marion County portion of Monteagle is part of the Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...
, TN–GA
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Chattanooga metropolitan area
The Chattanooga Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of six counties – three in southeast Tennessee and three in northwest Georgia – anchored by the city of Chattanooga...
, while the Franklin County portion is part of the Tullahoma
Tullahoma, Tennessee
-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 18,655 people, 7,717 households, and 5,161 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 88.1% White, 7.0% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races...
, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area
Tullahoma micropolitan area
The Tullahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in central Tennessee, anchored by the city of Tullahoma....
.
Monteagle is most famous for the treacherous stretch of Interstate 24
Interstate 24
Interstate 24 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from Interstate 57 to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at Interstate 75....
that passes through the town. It is here that the highway passes over what is colloquially referred to as "The Monteagle" or "Monteagle Mountain
Monteagle Mountain
Monteagle Mountain is the local name given to a stretch of Interstate 24 near Monteagle, Tennessee that passes over the Cumberland Plateau. Being part of the plateau, it is not technically a mountain, but appears that way to motorists crossing over it...
", a section of the southern Cumberland Plateau
Cumberland Plateau
The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia, part of Tennessee, and a small portion of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia . The terms "Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the...
which is a major landmark on the road between Chattanooga and Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. The interstate regularly shuts down in inclement weather, routing traffic onto U.S. Highway 41. In the Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
song "The Legend", which is the opening track in the film Smokey and the Bandit
Smokey and the Bandit
Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American film starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams, and Mike Henry. It inspired several other trucking films, including two sequels, Smokey and the Bandit II, and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3...
, Reed tells the story of the Bandit miraculously surviving brake failure on the "Monteagle Grade." There is also a song called "Monteagle Mountain" by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
on the album Boom Chicka Boom
Boom Chicka Boom
Boom Chicka Boom is an album by American country music icon Johnny Cash, released in 1990 on Mercury Records. The title refers to the sound that Cash's backing band, the Tennessee Three were said to produce...
.
The town is home to the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly
Monteagle Sunday School Assembly
The Monteagle Sunday School Assembly, or MSSA, is a church. Its Charter, which was granted by the State of Tennessee on October 31, 1882, states the purpose of the Assembly:the advancement of science, literary attainment, Sunday School...
. The Highlander Folk School, long involved in the labor and civil rights movements, was located here from 1932 to 1961. Rosa Parks attended workshops there shortly before the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Geography
Monteagle is located at 35°14′24"N 85°50′4"W (35.239941, -85.834372).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 8.2 square miles (21.4 km²), of which, 8.1 square miles (21.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (1.33%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 1,238 people, 477 households, and 321 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 152.2 people per square mile (58.7/km²). There were 701 housing units at an average density of 86.2 per square mile (33.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.45% White, 1.37% African American, 0.32% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.08% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.48% of the population.
There were 477 households out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the town the population was spread out with 19.5% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 25.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $24,464, and the median income for a family was $29,886. Males had a median income of $24,643 versus $17,708 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $12,983. About 21.7% of families and 25.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 42.4% of those under age 18 and 17.6% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
- Right Rev. William MillsapsWilliam MillsapsWilliam Wesley Millsaps is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Missionary Church, and the rector of Christ Church in Monteagle, Tennessee.He graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961...
is the presiding bishopPresiding BishopThe Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America :The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the chief ecumenical officer of the church, and the leader and caretaker for the bishops of the...
of the Episcopal Missionary ChurchEpiscopal Missionary ChurchThe Episcopal Missionary Church is a Continuing Anglican church body in the United States and a member of the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas...
, a former member of the UECNA. - William Alexander PercyWilliam Alexander PercyWilliam Alexander Percy , was a lawyer, planter, and poet from Greenville, Mississippi. His autobiography Lanterns on the Levee became a bestseller. His father LeRoy Percy was the last United States Senator from Mississippi elected by the legislature...
bought Brinkwood, a summerhouse in Monteagle with Huger Jervey, a professor of International Law at Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Places of Interest
- DuBose Conference CenterDuBose Conference CenterThe DuBose Conference Center, formally known as the DuBose Memorial Church Training School, is a historic site at Fairmont and College Streets in Monteagle, Tennessee...
- Monteagle Sunday School AssemblyMonteagle Sunday School AssemblyThe Monteagle Sunday School Assembly, or MSSA, is a church. Its Charter, which was granted by the State of Tennessee on October 31, 1882, states the purpose of the Assembly:the advancement of science, literary attainment, Sunday School...
- Home of the Highlander Folk School