Pulaski, Tennessee | |
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![]() Town Square in Pulaski | |
![]() Location of Pulaski in Giles County, Tennessee. | |
Coordinates: 35°11′45″N87°02′04″W / 35.19583°N 87.03444°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Tennessee |
County | Giles |
Incorporated | 1809 [1] |
Named for | Kazimierz Pułaski |
Government | |
• Mayor | J.J. Brindley |
Area | |
• Total | 7.51 sq mi (19.44 km2) |
• Land | 7.51 sq mi (19.44 km2) |
• Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
Elevation | 699 ft (213 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 8,397 |
• Density | 1,118.71/sq mi (431.92/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
ZIP code | 38478 |
Area code | 931 |
FIPS code | 47-61040 [4] |
GNIS feature ID | 1298659 [5] |
Website | www |
Pulaski is a city in and the county seat of Giles County, which is located on the central-southern border of Tennessee, United States. The population was 8,397 at the 2020 census. [6] It was named after Casimir Pulaski, a noted Polish-born general on the Patriot side in the American Revolutionary War.
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Pulaski was founded in 1809. During the Civil War, after the Union took control of Tennessee in 1862, thousands of African Americans left plantations and farms to join their lines for refuge.[ citation needed ] The Army set up a contraband camp in Pulaski to help house the freedmen and their families, feed them, and put them to work. In addition, education classes were started.[ citation needed ] The vicinity of Pulaski was the site of a number of skirmishes during the Franklin–Nashville Campaign.[ citation needed ] Union troops occupied the state from 1862, and hundreds of African Americans left plantations even before the Emancipation Proclamation to join their lines.
In 1863, Confederate courier Sam Davis was hanged in Pulaski by the Union Army on suspicion of espionage.[ citation needed ]
After the war, in late 1865, six Tennessee veterans of the Confederate Army founded a secret society, later known as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). This was the first chapter. These men, John C. Lester, John B. Kennedy, James R. Crowe, Frank O. McCord, Richard R. Reed, and J. Calvin Jones, established the KKK on December 25, 1865. They created rules for a secret, hierarchical society devoted to suppressing freedmen and their white allies, and maintaining white supremacy. [7] [8]
The white insurgents were determined to fight secretly against the political advancement of freedmen and of sympathetic whites. Chapters of the KKK quickly were organized in other parts of the state and the South. KKK members often attacked their victims at night, to increase the intimidation of threats and assaults. Other incidents of racial violence against blacks also took place. The Pulaski riot was a race riot initiated against blacks that took place in the city in the winter of 1868, following a heated election season.
Martin Methodist College was founded in Pulaski in 1870 as a private college for white students. Martin Methodist College was merged with the UT System in 2021 to become the new campus under the University of Tennessee System.[ citation needed ] It is now known as University of Tennessee Southern and is a public university. [9]
Pulaski is located in central Giles County at 35°11′45″N87°2′4″W / 35.19583°N 87.03444°W (35.195786, -87.034328). [10] The downtown area is on the north side of Richland Creek, a southward-flowing tributary of the Elk River.
U.S. Route 31 passes through the center of Pulaski as First Street, leading north 30 miles (48 km) to Columbia and southeast 19 miles (31 km) to Ardmore at the Alabama border. U.S. Route 31 Alternate (E. Grigsby Street) leaves U.S. 31 in the north part of Pulaski and heads northeast 23 miles (37 km) to Lewisburg. U.S. Route 64 passes south of Pulaski on a bypass route; it leads east 29 miles (47 km) to Fayetteville and west 18 miles (29 km) to Lawrenceburg.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.2 square miles (18.7 km2), all land. [6]
Climate data for Pulaski, Tennessee (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1957–present) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 76 (24) | 83 (28) | 86 (30) | 91 (33) | 96 (36) | 106 (41) | 105 (41) | 104 (40) | 100 (38) | 95 (35) | 86 (30) | 78 (26) | 106 (41) |
Mean maximum °F (°C) | 67.8 (19.9) | 71.4 (21.9) | 78.4 (25.8) | 83.1 (28.4) | 88.0 (31.1) | 92.8 (33.8) | 95.0 (35.0) | 94.7 (34.8) | 92.2 (33.4) | 85.4 (29.7) | 76.9 (24.9) | 67.9 (19.9) | 96.7 (35.9) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 48.2 (9.0) | 52.5 (11.4) | 61.2 (16.2) | 70.9 (21.6) | 78.0 (25.6) | 84.9 (29.4) | 88.1 (31.2) | 87.8 (31.0) | 83.0 (28.3) | 72.5 (22.5) | 60.8 (16.0) | 51.3 (10.7) | 69.9 (21.1) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 36.8 (2.7) | 40.3 (4.6) | 48.2 (9.0) | 57.1 (13.9) | 65.3 (18.5) | 73.2 (22.9) | 76.8 (24.9) | 75.8 (24.3) | 69.7 (20.9) | 58.2 (14.6) | 47.0 (8.3) | 39.7 (4.3) | 57.3 (14.1) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 25.4 (−3.7) | 28.1 (−2.2) | 35.2 (1.8) | 43.3 (6.3) | 52.6 (11.4) | 61.4 (16.3) | 65.5 (18.6) | 63.8 (17.7) | 56.4 (13.6) | 43.9 (6.6) | 33.2 (0.7) | 28.2 (−2.1) | 44.8 (7.1) |
Mean minimum °F (°C) | 9.6 (−12.4) | 14.3 (−9.8) | 21.1 (−6.1) | 29.5 (−1.4) | 39.7 (4.3) | 52.0 (11.1) | 58.6 (14.8) | 56.2 (13.4) | 43.9 (6.6) | 30.1 (−1.1) | 20.6 (−6.3) | 15.3 (−9.3) | 6.8 (−14.0) |
Record low °F (°C) | −16 (−27) | −6 (−21) | 3 (−16) | 22 (−6) | 30 (−1) | 39 (4) | 49 (9) | 50 (10) | 32 (0) | 22 (−6) | 10 (−12) | −8 (−22) | −16 (−27) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 5.29 (134) | 5.66 (144) | 5.48 (139) | 5.13 (130) | 4.57 (116) | 4.78 (121) | 4.83 (123) | 4.37 (111) | 4.12 (105) | 3.81 (97) | 4.26 (108) | 6.28 (160) | 58.58 (1,488) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 1.0 (2.5) | 0.4 (1.0) | 0.3 (0.76) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.2 (0.51) | 1.9 (4.8) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 10.8 | 11.1 | 11.6 | 10.5 | 10.6 | 10.6 | 10.1 | 9.1 | 7.2 | 7.9 | 9.1 | 11.7 | 120.3 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.4 |
Source: NOAA [11] [12] |
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1850 | 1,137 | — | |
1870 | 2,070 | — | |
1880 | 2,089 | 0.9% | |
1890 | 2,274 | 8.9% | |
1900 | 2,838 | 24.8% | |
1910 | 2,928 | 3.2% | |
1920 | 2,780 | −5.1% | |
1930 | 3,367 | 21.1% | |
1940 | 5,314 | 57.8% | |
1950 | 5,762 | 8.4% | |
1960 | 6,616 | 14.8% | |
1970 | 6,989 | 5.6% | |
1980 | 7,184 | 2.8% | |
1990 | 7,895 | 9.9% | |
2000 | 7,871 | −0.3% | |
2010 | 7,870 | 0.0% | |
2020 | 8,397 | 6.7% | |
Sources: [13] [14] [3] |
Race | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White (non-Hispanic) | 5,644 | 67.21% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 1,828 | 21.77% |
Native American | 37 | 0.44% |
Asian | 71 | 0.85% |
Pacific Islander | 6 | 0.07% |
Other/Mixed | 557 | 6.63% |
Hispanic or Latino | 254 | 3.02% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,397 people, 3,189 households, and 1,746 families residing in the city.
As of the census [4] of 2000, there were 7,871 people, 3,455 households, and 2,038 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,200.8 inhabitants per square mile (463.6/km2). There were 3,888 housing units at an average density of 593.2 per square mile (229.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 70.40% White, 27.06% African American, 0.24% Native American, 0.85% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.11% of the population.
There were 3,455 households, out of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.7% were married couples living together, 18.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 22.1% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $27,459, and the median income for a family was $37,219. Males had a median income of $30,400 versus $21,714 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,751. About 12.7% of families and 18.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.1% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over.
Abernathy Field is a public-use airport owned by the City of Pulaski and Giles County. It is located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of Pulaski. [16]
The local newspaper is the Pulaski Citizen .
Pulaski is home to two high schools, Giles County High School and Richland High School (Lynnville). Pulaski is also home to Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Pulaski (TCAT) and to University of Tennessee Southern.
In 1903, Pulaski was home to the Pulaski Baseball Club, an independent Minor League Baseball team that played in the Tennessee–Alabama League. [17]
The Diana Singing, near Pulaski in Cornersville, is home of the semi-annual Diana Singing, sponsored by the Churches of Christ. The event attracts over 3,000 people to the area in June and September. [18]
The town was mentioned in the 1986 film Platoon by Chris Taylor, a character played by Charlie Sheen. [21]
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Pulaski County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,800. Its county seat is Pulaski. Pulaski County is part of the Blacksburg–Christiansburg, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Marshall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,318. Its county seat is Lewisburg. Marshall County comprises the Lewisburg Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is in Middle Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of the state.
Giles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,346. Its county seat is Pulaski.
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Crab Orchard is a census-designated place (CDP) in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,678 at the 2010 census.
The Pulaski riot was a race riot that occurred in Pulaski, Tennessee, on January 7, 1868. While the riot appeared to be based in a trade dispute of the previous summer between Calvin Lamberth, a white man, and Calvin Carter, an African American, it was provoked when Lamberth shot a friend of Carter's over rumored comments about the former's black mistress.