Nutbush, Tennessee

Nutbush is a rural unincorporated community in Haywood County, Tennessee, in the western part of the state.[1] It was established in the early 19th century by European-American settlers who brought along or bought enslaved African Americans to develop the area's cotton plantations. The African Americans built houses and churches that still stand.

This article is about the community in Haywood County, Tennessee. It is not to be confused with Nutbush, Memphis.

Nutbush, Tennessee
Unincorporated community[1]
Location in the state of Tennessee
Coordinates: 35°41′53″N 89°24′29″W
CountryUnited States
StateTennessee
CountiesHaywood
Elevation
358 ft (109 m)
Population
 (2000) of the Nutbush voting precinct
 • Total259
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
38063 (Ripley, Tennessee)[2]
Area code731
Nutbush grocery store (2004)

Agriculture is still the most important element of the rural economy, focused on the cultivation and processing of cotton. This has been the commodity crop since the antebellum years, when its cultivation depended on slave labor. As of 2006, cotton was processed in one cotton-processing plant in the community.

Nutbush is best known as the birthplace and childhood home of singer Tina Turner, who described the town in her 1973 song "Nutbush City Limits". In 2002, a segment of Tennessee State Route 19 near Nutbush was named "Tina Turner Highway" in her honor.[3][4][5] This is also the home town of blues pioneer musicians and recording artists Hambone Willie Newbern and Sleepy John Estes.[6]

Demographics

In 2000, the population of the Nutbush voting precinct (TN 3976) was 259. Of those, 42 were White (16.22%), 215 Black (82.01%), and two were of another ethnicity (0.77%). At that time 190 people (73.36%) were aged 18 or older.[7]

Economy
Cotton processing in Nutbush (2004)

The community's main source of income is agriculture (especially cotton).

After the abolition of slavery, freedmen worked at sharecropping as the primary means of income. They cultivated plots of land, mostly for growing cotton, in return for paying a share of the crop to the landowner.

Modern machines such as the cotton picker have superseded manual cultivation; many farm workers left the area for cities during the Great Migration of the early 20th century. As of 2006, one cotton-processing plant in Nutbush is the only agricultural industry in the community.

Lagoon Creek Peaking Facility is run by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Nutbush. From eight gas turbines, the power plant generates electric power for the area in times of high demand.[8][9]

History
Scenic view onto Tennessee State Route 19 (2004)

The Nutbush community was established in the early 19th century by settlers from Virginia and North Carolina. Descended from immigrants from England, they traveled westward to the Mississippi River delta in western Tennessee. They developed this area for cotton and were dependent on the use of slave labor.[10]

Main article: Trinity United Methodist Church (Nutbush, Tennessee)

These settlers founded Trinity United Methodist Church in 1822. During the slavery years, black enslaved people were forced to attend the church under white supervision. More than 50 Civil War soldiers, both Confederate and Union, are buried in the Trinity Cemetery associated with the church. The Trinity Cemetery is mentioned as one of the best-kept cemeteries in the county.[11]

They also had a white Woodlawn Church (it is no longer active). Under state law, most black congregations had to be ministered by white pastors. In 1846, Hardin Smith, who was from Virginia, was allowed to preach to a black congregation at an evening service at the white Woodlawn Church; it was the first time an area congregation was pastored by an enslaved person.[10][12]

Woodlawn Baptist Church (2007)
Main article: Woodlawn Baptist Church and Cemetery

After the American Civil War, the Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church was established in 1866 by Hardin Smith and other freed people of the community, aided by some members of the white Woodlawn Baptist Church. The freedmen soon withdrew from white supervision, as did most black Baptists in the South, establishing their own regional and national associations by the end of the century.[13][14]

Woodlawn Baptist Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 for its historical significance.[15]

In 1881 a U.S. Post office was opened in Nutbush; it was closed in 1905.[16]

Geography

Nutbush is located at 35°41′53″N 89°24′29″W (35.6981330, -89.4081280), at an elevation of 358 feet (109 m).[1]

Cotton fields and hills dominate the landscape of the surrounding area. Nutbush is situated on the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area with a high earthquake risk.

Postal and telephone

The U.S. ZIP Code for Nutbush is 38063 (Ripley, Tennessee)[2] and the telephone area code is 731.[17]

Notable residents

The early Black musicians and singers from the Nutbush churches recorded and influenced an international audience.[6] Prominent recording artists include Hambone Willie Newbern and Sleepy John Estes. Harmonica player Noah Lewis of Henning, Tennessee is buried in an area cemetery near Nutbush.[6]

Nutbush is the childhood home of singer Tina Turner.

Nutbush is best known as the childhood home of singer Tina Turner, then known as Anna Mae Bullock. At age 16, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri.

After her birth in 1939, Bullock was raised in Nutbush, Brownsville, and Ripley by her maternal grandmother and extended family in the area. The houses she lived in as a child no longer exist. Wood from her Nutbush/Flagg Grove home was used to build a barn.[18]

Both Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church and Spring Hill Baptist Church in Nutbush were family churches of Tina Turner. She attended and sang in both choirs growing up. Her family members were church officials, musicians and singers; various members are buried in these two cemeteries.[18]

Tina Turner Highway in Nutbush (2004)

In 2002, Tennessee State Route 19 between Brownsville and Nutbush was officially designated as "Tina Turner Highway" in her honor.[3][4][5]

Cultural influence
gollark: Oh, I see, it pretends to be a reverse proxy and some poorly configured thing accepts it.
gollark: What do you mean "editable HTTP request IP headers"? Why would browsers send their IP as a header?
gollark: RotaryCraft has a "bedrock breaker" machine actually.
gollark: You would probably run into... friction issues, I think, big ones at high velocities... if it was very curved.
gollark: There's a lot of redundant information or space where more could be packed in in most languages, but this is actually good in that it acts as error correction.

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Nutbush, Tennessee
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 30, 2005. Retrieved January 3, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) DownloadZIPcode
  3. Wilder, John S. (January 17, 2002). "SB 2798: Highway Signs – "Tina Turner Highway"" (PDF). Legislation Archives - Bills and Resolutions: 102nd General Assembly. Nashville, TN: Tennessee Senate. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  4. Fitzhugh, Craig (January 22, 2002). "HB 2535: Highway Signs – "Tina Turner Highway"" (PDF). Legislation Archives – Bills and Resolutions: 102nd General Assembly. Nashville, TN: Tennessee House of Representatives. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  5. Associated Press (September 25, 2002). "Highway to Be Named for Tina Turner". AP Online News Wire. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  6. A History of Tennessee Arts, University of Tennessee Press
  7. Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury
  8. Continental Construction, Co., Inc.
  9. AtlasPower, Inc.
  10. The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, Rutledge Press
  11. http://www.rootsweb.com Rootsweb - Haywood County, TN Genealogy
  12. Norris, Sharon, Black America Series: Haywood County Tennessee, Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 8
  13. Brooks, Walter H. "The Evolution of the Negro Baptist Church." Journal of Negro History (1922) 7#1 pp: 11-22. in JSTOR
  14. Albert J. Raboteau, Slave Religion: The "invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South (1979)
  15. National Register of Historic Places
  16. Tennessee State Library and Archives
  17. http://www.bellsouth.com BellSouth
  18. Information by Sharon Norris, national preservationist, author and researcher of Black America Series: Haywood County, Tennessee.
  19. Oakley, Rachel (December 5, 2014). "Aussie cops accept the Nutbush dance challenge and nail it". Archived from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  20. footstep11 (June 28, 2017). "Glee Episode Guide" (PDF). Orlandini, Mauro. p. 255. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2018.

Further reading
  • West, Carroll Van & Duncan Binnicker, Margaret (2004). A History of Tennessee Arts. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 1-57233-239-5.
  • Norris, Sharon (2000). Black America Series: Haywood County Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-0605-2.
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