Coordinates	58°00′″N56°19′″N
name	Tennessee
flag	Flag of Tennessee.svg
seal	Tennesseestateseallrg.png
nickname	The Volunteer State
motto	Agriculture and Commerce
capital	Nashville
amphibian	Salamander
bird	Mockingbird
fish	Channel Catfish Bass
flower	Iris
folkdance	Square dance
rock	Agate
gemstone	Tennessee River Pearl
insect	Honeybee
quarter	2002 TN Proof.png
quarterreleasedate	2002
reptile	Eastern Box Turtle
tree	Tulip Poplar
wildflower	Passion Flower
staterock	Limestone
song	7 Songs
tartan	Tennessee State Tartan }}

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. Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west.

The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. Tennessee's capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 626,144. Memphis is the state's largest city, with a population of 670,902. Nashville has the state's largest metropolitan area, at 1,589,934 people.

The state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. In the early 19th century, Tennessee was home to some of American history's most colorful political figures, among them Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, and Sam Houston. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War in 1861, and the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war.

Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state, and more soldiers for the Union Army than any other Southern state. Tennessee has seen some of the nation's worst racial strife, from the formation of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski in 1866 to the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis in 1968. In the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from an agrarian economy to a more diversified economy, aided at times by federal entities such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. In the early 1940s, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was established to house the Manhattan Project's uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build the world's first atomic bomb.

Tennessee has played a critical role in the development of rock and roll and early blues music. Beale Street in Memphis is considered by many to be the birthplace of the blues, with musicians such as W.C. Handy performing in its clubs as early as 1909. Memphis was also home to Sun Records, where musicians such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Charlie Rich began their recording careers, and where rock and roll took shape in the 1950s. The 1927 Victor recording sessions in Bristol generally mark the beginning of the country music genre, and the rise of the Grand Ole Opry in the 1930s helped make Nashville the center of the country music recording industry.

Tennessee's major industries include agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. Poultry, soybeans, and cattle are the state's primary agricultural products, and major manufacturing exports include chemicals, transportation equipment, and electrical equipment. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the nation's most visited national park, is headquartered in the eastern part of the state, and a section of the Appalachian Trail roughly follows the Tennessee-North Carolina border. Other major tourist attractions include Elvis Presley's Graceland in Memphis and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.

Geography

Tennessee borders eight other states: Kentucky and Virginia to the north; North Carolina to the east; Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi on the south; Arkansas and Missouri on the Mississippi River to the west. Tennessee ties Missouri as the state bordering the most other states. The state is trisected by the Tennessee River.

The highest point in the state is Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet (2,025 m). Clingmans Dome, which lies on Tennessee's eastern border, is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. The state line between Tennessee and North Carolina crosses the summit. The lowest point is the Mississippi River at the Mississippi state line. The geographical center of the state is located in Murfreesboro.

The state of Tennessee is geographically and constitutionally divided into three Grand Divisions: East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and West Tennessee. Tennessee features six principal physiographic regions: the Blue Ridge, the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region, the Cumberland Plateau, the Highland Rim, the Nashville Basin, and the Gulf Coastal Plain. Tennessee is home to the most caves in the United States, with over 8,350 caves registered to date.

East Tennessee

The Blue Ridge area lies on the eastern edge of Tennessee, bordering North Carolina. This region of Tennessee is characterized by the high mountains and rugged terrain of the western Blue Ridge Mountains, which are subdivided into several subranges, namely the Great Smoky Mountains, the Bald Mountains, the Unicoi Mountains, the Unaka Mountains and Roan Highlands, and the Iron Mountains.

The average elevation of the Blue Ridge area is 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea level. Clingmans Dome, the state's highest point, is located in this region. The Blue Ridge area was never more than sparsely populated, and today much of it is protected by the Cherokee National Forest, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and several federal wilderness areas and state parks.

Stretching west from the Blue Ridge for approximately 55 miles (88 km) is the Ridge and Valley region, in which numerous tributaries join to form the Tennessee River in the Tennessee Valley. This area of Tennessee is covered by fertile valleys separated by wooded ridges, such as Bays Mountain and Clinch Mountain. The western section of the Tennessee valley, where the depressions become broader and the ridges become lower, is called the Great Valley. In this valley are numerous towns and two of the region's three urban areas, Knoxville, the 3rd largest city in the state, and Chattanooga, the 4th largest city in the state.

The Cumberland Plateau rises to the west of the Tennessee Valley; this area is covered with flat-topped mountains separated by sharp valleys. The elevation of the Cumberland Plateau ranges from 1,500 to over 2,000 feet (450 to over 600 m) above sea level.

Middle Tennessee

West of the Cumberland Plateau is the Highland Rim, an elevated plain that surrounds the Nashville Basin. The northern section of the Highland Rim, known for its high tobacco production, is sometimes called the Pennyroyal Plateau; it is located primarily in Southwestern Kentucky. The Nashville Basin is characterized by rich, fertile farm country and great diversity of natural wildlife.

Middle Tennessee was a common destination of settlers' crossing the Appalachians from Virginia in the late 18th century and early 19th century. An important trading route called the Natchez Trace, created and used for many generations by Native Americans, connected Middle Tennessee to the lower Mississippi River town of Natchez. The route of the Natchez Trace was used as the basis for a scenic highway called the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Some of the last remaining large American Chestnut trees grow in this region. They are being used to help breed blight-resistant trees.

Middle Tennessee is one of the primary state population and transportation centers along with the heart of State government. Nashville (the capitol), Clarksville and Murfreesboro are its largest cities. Fifty percent of the US population is within 600 miles of Nashville. US Interstate Highways I-24, I-40 and I-65 trisect the Division.

West Tennessee

West of the Highland Rim and Nashville Basin is the Gulf Coastal Plain, which includes the Mississippi embayment. The Gulf Coastal Plain is, in terms of area, the predominant land region in Tennessee. It is part of the large geographic land area that begins at the Gulf of Mexico and extends north into southern Illinois. In Tennessee, the Gulf Coastal Plain is divided into three sections that extend from the Tennessee River in the east to the Mississippi River in the west.

The easternmost section, about 10 miles (16 km) in width, consists of hilly land that runs along the western bank of the Tennessee River. To the west of this narrow strip of land is a wide area of rolling hills and streams that stretches all the way to Memphis; this area is called the Tennessee Bottoms or bottom land. In Memphis, the Tennessee Bottoms end in steep bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. To the west of the Tennessee Bottoms is the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, less than 300 feet (90 m) above sea level. This area of lowlands, flood plains, and swamp land is sometimes referred to as the Delta region.

Most of West Tennessee remained Indian land until the Chickasaw Cession of 1818, when the Chickasaw ceded their land between the Tennessee River and the Mississippi River. The portion of the Chickasaw Cession that lies in Kentucky is known today as the Jackson Purchase.

Public lands

Areas under the control and management of the National Park Service include:

Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville

Appalachian National Scenic Trail

Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

Foothills Parkway

Fort Donelson National Battlefield and Fort Donelson National Cemetery near Dover

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Natchez Trace Parkway

Obed Wild and Scenic River near Wartburg

Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail

Shiloh National Cemetery and Shiloh National Military Park near Shiloh

Stones River National Battlefield and Stones River National Cemetery near Murfreesboro

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

Fifty-four state parks, covering some 132,000 acres (534 km²) as well as parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cherokee National Forest, and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park are in Tennessee. Sportsmen and visitors are attracted to Reelfoot Lake, originally formed by the New Madrid earthquake; stumps and other remains of a once dense forest, together with the lotus bed covering the shallow waters, give the lake an eerie beauty.

Climate

Most of the state has a humid subtropical climate, with the exception of some of the higher elevations in the Appalachians, which are classified as having a mountain temperate climate or a humid continental climate due to cooler temperatures. The Gulf of Mexico is the dominant factor in the climate of Tennessee, with winds from the south being responsible for most of the state's annual precipitation. Generally, the state has hot summers and mild to cool winters with generous precipitation throughout the year. On average the state receives 50 inches (130 cm) of precipitation annually. Snowfall ranges from 5 inches (13 cm) in West Tennessee to over 16 inches (41 cm) in the higher mountains in East Tennessee.

Summers in the state are generally hot and humid, with most of the state averaging a high of around 90 °F (32 °C) during the summer months. Winters tend to be mild to cool, increasing in coolness at higher elevations. Generally, for areas outside the highest mountains, the average overnight lows are near freezing for most of the state. The highest recorded temperature is at Perryville on August 9, 1930 while the lowest recorded temperature is at Mountain City on December 30, 1917.

While the state is far enough from the coast to avoid any direct impact from a hurricane, the location of the state makes it likely to be impacted from the remnants of tropical cyclones which weaken over land and can cause significant rainfall, such as Tropical Storm Chris in 1982. The state averages around 50 days of thunderstorms per year, some of which can be quite severe. Tornadoes are possible throughout the state, with West and Middle Tennessee the most vulnerable. On average, the state has 15 tornadoes per year. Tornadoes in Tennessee can be severe, and Tennessee leads the nation in the percentage of total tornadoes which have fatalities. Winter storms are an occasional problem, although ice storms are a more likely occurrence. Fog is a persistent problem in parts of the state, especially in much of the Smoky Mountains.

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History

Early history

The area now known as Tennessee was first inhabited by Paleo-Indians nearly 12,000 years ago. The names of the cultural groups that inhabited the area between first settlement and the time of European contact are unknown, but several distinct cultural phases have been named by archaeologists, including Archaic (8000–1000 BC), Woodland (1000 BC–1000 AD), and Mississippian (1000–1600 AD), whose chiefdoms were the cultural predecessors of the Muscogee people who inhabited the Tennessee River Valley prior to Cherokee migration into the river's headwaters.

The first recorded European excursions into what is now called Tennessee were three expeditions led by Spanish explorers, namely Hernando de Soto in 1540, Tristan de Luna in 1559, and Juan Pardo in 1567. Pardo recorded the name "Tanasqui" from a local Indian village, which may have evolved to the state's current name. At that time, Tennessee was inhabited by tribes of Muscogee and Yuchi people. Possibly because of European diseases devastating the Native tribes, which would have left a population vacuum, and also from expanding European settlement in the north, the Cherokee moved south from the area now called Virginia. As European colonists spread into the area, the native populations were forcibly displaced to the south and west, including all Muscogee and Yuchi peoples, the Chickasaw, and Choctaw.

The first British settlement in what is now Tennessee was Fort Loudoun, near present-day Vonore. Fort Loudoun became the westernmost British outpost to that date. The fort was designed by John William Gerard de Brahm and constructed by forces under British Captain Raymond Demeré. After its completion, Captain Raymond Demeré relinquished command on August 14, 1757 to his brother, Captain Paul Demeré. Hostilities erupted between the British and the neighboring Overhill Cherokees, and a siege of Fort Loudoun ended with its surrender on August 7, 1760. The following morning, Captain Paul Demeré and a number of his men were killed in an ambush nearby, and the most of the rest of the garrison was taken prisoner.

In the 1760s, long hunters from Virginia explored much of East and Middle Tennessee, and the first permanent European settlers began arriving late in the decade. The vast majority of 18th century settlers were English or of primarily English descent but nearly 20% of them were also Scotch-Irish. These settlers formed the Watauga Association, a community built on lands leased from the Cherokee peoples.

During the American Revolutionary War, Fort Watauga at Sycamore Shoals (in present-day Elizabethton) was attacked (1776) by Dragging Canoe and his warring faction of Cherokee who were aligned with the British Loyalists. These renegade Cherokee were referred to by settlers as the Chickamauga. They opposed North Carolina's annexation of the Washington District and the concurrent settling of the Transylvania Colony further north and west. The lives of many settlers were spared from the initial warrior attacks through the warnings of Dragging Canoe's cousin, Nancy Ward. The frontier fort on the banks of the Watauga River later served as a 1780 staging area for the Overmountain Men in preparation to trek over the Appalachian Mountains, to engage, and to later defeat the British Army at the Battle of Kings Mountain in North Carolina.

Three counties of the Washington District (now part of Tennessee) broke off from North Carolina in 1784 and formed the State of Franklin. Efforts to obtain admission to the Union failed, and the counties (now numbering eight) had re-joined North Carolina by 1789. North Carolina ceded the area to the federal government in 1790, after which it was organized into the Southwest Territory. In an effort to encourage settlers to move west into the new territory, in 1787 the mother state of North Carolina ordered a road to be cut to take settlers into the Cumberland Settlements—from the south end of Clinch Mountain (in East Tennessee) to French Lick (Nashville). The Trace was called the “North Carolina Road” or “Avery’s Trace,” and sometimes “The Wilderness Road (although it should not be confused with Daniel Boone's "Wilderness Road" through the Cumberland Gap).

Statehood (1796)

Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796 as the 16th state. It was the first state created from territory under the jurisdiction of the United States federal government. Apart from the former Thirteen Colonies only Vermont and Kentucky predate Tennessee's statehood, and neither were ever federal territories. The state boundaries, according to the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, Article I, Section 31, stated that the beginning point for identifying the boundary was the extreme height of the Stone Mountain, at the place where the line of Virginia intersects it, and basically ran the extreme heights of mountain chains through the Appalachian Mountains separating North Carolina from Tennessee past the Indian towns of Cowee and Old Chota, thence along the main ridge of the said mountain (Unicoi Mountain) to the southern boundary of the state; all the territory, lands and waters lying west of said line are included in the boundaries and limits of the newly formed state of Tennessee. Part of the provision also stated that the limits and jurisdiction of the state would include future land acquisition, referencing possible land trade with other states, or the acquisition of territory from west of the Mississippi River.

During the administration of U.S. President Martin Van Buren, nearly 17,000 Cherokees—along with approximately 2,000 black slaves owned by Cherokees—were uprooted from their homes between 1838 and 1839 and were forced by the U.S. military to march from "emigration depots" in Eastern Tennessee (such as Fort Cass) toward the more distant Indian Territory west of Arkansas. During this relocation an estimated 4,000 Cherokees died along the way west. In the Cherokee language, the event is called ''Nunna daul Isunyi''—"the Trail Where We Cried." The Cherokees were not the only Native Americans forced to emigrate as a result of the Indian removal efforts of the United States, and so the phrase "Trail of Tears" is sometimes used to refer to similar events endured by other Native American peoples, especially among the "Five Civilized Tribes". The phrase originated as a description of the earlier emigration of the Choctaw nation.

Civil War and Reconstruction

In February 1861, secessionists in Tennessee's state government—led by Governor Isham Harris—sought voter approval for a convention to sever ties with the United States, but Tennessee voters rejected the referendum by a 54–46% margin. The strongest opposition to secession came from East Tennessee (which later tried to form a separate Union-aligned state). Following the Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter in April and Lincoln's call for troops from Tennessee and other states in response, Governor Isham Harris began military mobilization, submitted an ordinance of secession to the General Assembly, and made direct overtures to the Confederate government. The Tennessee legislature ratified an agreement to enter a military league with the Confederate States on May 7, 1861. On June 8, 1861, with people in Middle Tennessee having significantly changed their position, voters approved a second referendum calling for secession, becoming the last state to do so.

Many major battles of the American Civil War were fought in Tennessee—most of them Union victories. Ulysses S. Grant and the U.S. Navy captured control of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers in February 1862. They held off the Confederate counterattack at Shiloh in April. Memphis fell to the Union in June, following a naval battle on the Mississippi River in front of the city The Capture of Memphis and Nashville gave the Union control of the western and middle sections; this control was confirmed at the Battle of Murfreesboro in early January 1863 and by the subsequent Tullahoma Campaign.

Confederates held East Tennessee despite the strength of Unionist sentiment there, with the exception of extremely pro-Confederate Sullivan County. The Confederates besieged Chattanooga during the Chattanooga Campaign in early fall 1863, but were driven off by Grant in November. Many of the Confederate defeats can be attributed to the poor strategic vision of General Braxton Bragg, who led the Army of Tennessee from Perryville, Kentucky to Confederate defeat at Chattanooga.

The last major battles came when the Confederates invaded Middle Tennessee in November 1864 and were checked at Franklin, then completely diminished by George Thomas at Nashville in December. Meanwhile the civilian Andrew Johnson was appointed military governor of the state by President Abraham Lincoln.

When the Emancipation Proclamation was announced, Tennessee was mostly held by Union forces. Thus, Tennessee was not among the states enumerated in the Proclamation, and the Proclamation did not free any slaves there. Nonetheless, enslaved African Americans escaped to Union lines to gain freedom without waiting for official action. Old and young, men, women and children camped near Union troops. Thousands of former slaves ended up fighting on the Union side, nearly 200,000 in total across the South, and some 30,000 blacks fought for the Confederates.

Tennessee's legislature approved an amendment to the state constitution prohibiting slavery on February 22, 1865. Voters in the state approved the amendment in March. It also ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (abolishing slavery in every state) on April 7, 1865.

In 1864, Andrew Johnson (a War Democrat from Tennessee) was elected Vice President under Abraham Lincoln. He became President after Lincoln's assassination in 1865. Under Johnson's lenient re-admission policy, Tennessee was the first of the seceding states to have its elected members readmitted to the U.S. Congress, on July 24, 1866. Because Tennessee had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, it was the only one of the formerly secessionist states that did not have a military governor during the Reconstruction period.

After the formal end of Reconstruction, the struggle over power in Southern society continued. Through violence and intimidation against freedmen and their allies, White Democrats regained political power in Tennessee and other states across the South in the late 1870s and 1880s. Over the next decade, the state legislature passed increasingly restrictive laws to control African Americans. In 1889 the General Assembly passed four laws described as electoral reform, with the cumulative effect of essentially disfranchising most African Americans in rural areas and small towns, as well as many poor Whites. Legislation included implementation of a poll tax, timing of registration, and recording requirements. Tens of thousands of taxpaying citizens were without representation for decades into the 20th century. Disfranchising legislation accompanied Jim Crow laws passed in the late 19th century, which imposed segregation in the state. In 1900, African Americans made up nearly 24% of the state's population, and numbered 480,430 citizens who lived mostly in the central and western parts of the state.

In 1897, Tennessee celebrated its centennial of statehood (though one year late of the 1896 anniversary) with a great exposition in Nashville. A full scale replica of the Parthenon was constructed for the celebration, located in what is now Nashville's Centennial Park.

20th century

On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth and final state necessary to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provided women the right to vote. Disfranchising voter registration requirements continued to keep most African Americans and many poor whites, both men and women, off the voter rolls.

The need to create work for the unemployed during the Great Depression, a desire for rural electrification, the need to control annual spring flooding and improve shipping capacity on the Tennessee River were all factors that drove the Federal creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1933. Through the power of the TVA projects, Tennessee quickly became the nation's largest public utility supplier.

During World War II, the availability of abundant TVA electrical power led the Manhattan Project to locate one of the principal sites for production and isolation of weapons-grade fissile material in East Tennessee. The planned community of Oak Ridge was built from scratch to provide accommodations for the facilities and workers. These sites are now Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the East Tennessee Technology Park.

Despite recognized effects of limiting voting by poor whites, successive legislatures expanded the reach of the disfranchising laws until they covered the state. In 1949 political scientist V. O. Key Jr. argued that "the size of the poll tax did not inhibit voting as much as the inconvenience of paying it. County officers regulated the vote by providing opportunities to pay the tax (as they did in Knoxville), or conversely by making payment as difficult as possible. Such manipulation of the tax, and therefore the vote, created an opportunity for the rise of urban bosses and political machines. Urban politicians bought large blocks of poll tax receipts and distributed them to blacks and whites, who then voted as instructed."

In 1953 state legislators amended the state constitution, removing the poll tax. In many areas both blacks and poor whites still faced subjectively applied barriers to voter registration that did not end until after passage of national civil rights legislation, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Tennessee celebrated its bicentennial in 1996. With a yearlong statewide celebration entitled "Tennessee 200", it opened a new state park (Bicentennial Mall) at the foot of Capitol Hill in Nashville.

Demographics

The center of population of Tennessee is located in Rutherford County, in the city of Murfreesboro.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2006, Tennessee had an estimated population of 6,038,803, which is an increase of 83,058, or 1.4%, from the prior year and an increase of 349,541, or 6.1%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 142,266 people (that is 493,881 births minus 351,615 deaths), and an increase from net migration of 219,551 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 59,385 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 160,166 people. 20% of Tennesseans were born outside the South, compared to a figure of 13.5% in 1990.

In recent years, Tennessee has received an influx of people relocating from several northern states, California, and Florida, for the low cost of living, and the booming healthcare and automobile industries. Metropolitan Nashville is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country due in part to these factors.

In 2000, the five most common self-reported ethnic groups in the state were: American (17.3%), African American (16.4%), Irish (9.3%), English (9.1%), and German (8.3%). Most Tennesseans who self-identify as having American ancestry are of English and Scotch-Irish stock. An estimated 21–24% of Tennesseans are of predominantly English ancestry.

6.6% of Tennessee's population were reported as under 5 years of age, 24.6% under 18, and 12.4% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.3% of the population.

On June 19, 2010, the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs granted state recognition to six Indian tribes which was later repealed by the state's Attorney General because the action by the commission was illegal. The tribes were as follows:

The Cherokee Wolf Clan in western Tennessee, with members in Carroll County, Benton, Decatur, Henderson, Henry, Weakley, Gibson and Madison counties.

The Chikamaka Band based historically on the South Cumberland Plateau, said to have members in Franklin, Grundy, Marion, Sequatchie, Warren and Coffee counties.

Central Band of Cherokee, also known as the Cherokee of Lawrence County, Tennessee.

United Eastern Lenapee Nation of Winfield, Tennessee.

The Tanasi Council, said to have members in Shelby, Dyer, Gibson, Humphreys and Perry counties; and

Remnant Yuchi Nation, with members in Sullivan, Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Unicoi, Johnson and Washington counties.

Religion

The religious affiliations of the people of Tennessee are:

Christian: 82%

*Baptist: 39%

*Methodist: 10%

*Church of Christ: 6%

*Roman Catholic: 6%

*Presbyterian: 3%

*Church of God: 2%

*Lutheran: 2%

*Pentecostal: 2%

*Other Christian (includes unspecified "Christian" and "Protestant"): 12%

Islam: 1%

Other religions: 2%

Non-religious: 9%

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Southern Baptist Convention with 1,414,199; the United Methodist Church with 393,994; the Churches of Christ with 216,648; and the Roman Catholic Church with 183,161.

Tennessee is home to several Protestant denominations, such as the National Baptist Convention (headquartered in Nashville), the Church of God in Christ and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (both headquartered in Memphis), the Church of God and The Church of God of Prophecy (headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee). The Free Will Baptist denomination is headquartered in Antioch, and its main Bible college is in Nashville. The Southern Baptist Convention maintains its general headquarters in Nashville. Publishing houses of several denominations are located in Nashville.

Economy

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2005 Tennessee's gross state product was $226.502 billion, making Tennessee the 18th largest economy in the nation. In 2003, the per capita personal income was $28,641, 36th in the nation, and 91% of the national per capita personal income of $31,472. In 2004, the median household income was $38,550, 41st in the nation, and 87% of the national median of $44,472.

Major outputs for the state include textiles, cotton, cattle, and electrical power. Tennessee has over 82,000 farms, roughly 59 percent of which accommodate beef cattle. Although cotton was an early crop in Tennessee, large-scale cultivation of the fiber did not begin until the 1820s with the opening of the land between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. The upper wedge of the Mississippi Delta extends into southwestern Tennessee, and it was in this fertile section that cotton took hold. Currently West Tennessee is also heavily planted in soybeans, focusing on the northwest corner of the state.

Major corporations with headquarters in Tennessee include FedEx Corporation, AutoZone Incorporated and International Paper, all based in Memphis; Pilot Corporation and Regal Entertainment Group, based in Knoxville; Eastman Chemical Company, based in Kingsport, the North American headquarters of Nissan, based in Franklin; and the head-quarters of Caterpillar Financial (the finance division of the well known mining company Caterpillar) based in Nashville. Tennessee is also the location of the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant and a 1.2 Billion dollar polysilicon production facility by Hemlock Semiconductor Group in Clarksville.

Tennessee is a right to work state, as are most of its Southern neighbors. Unionization has historically been low and continues to decline as in most of the U.S. generally. As of January 2010, the state's unemployment rate is 10.7%.

Tax

The Tennessee income tax does not apply to salaries and wages, but most income from stocks, bonds and notes receivable is taxable. All taxable dividends and interest which exceed the $1,250 single exemption or the $2,500 joint exemption are taxable at the rate of 6%. The state's sales and use tax rate for most items is 7%. Food is taxed at a lower rate of 5.5%, but candy, dietary supplements and prepared food are taxed at the full 7% rate. Local sales taxes are collected in most jurisdictions, at rates varying from 1.5% to 2.75%, bringing the total sales tax to between 8.5% and 9.75%, one of the highest levels in the nation. Intangible property is assessed on the shares of stock of stockholders of any loan company, investment company, insurance company or for-profit cemetery companies. The assessment ratio is 40% of the value multiplied by the tax rate for the jurisdiction. Tennessee imposes an inheritance tax on decedents' estates that exceed maximum single exemption limits ($1,000,000 for deaths 2006 and after.)

Transportation

Interstate highways

Interstate 40 crosses the state in a west-east orientation. Its branch interstate highways include I-240 in Memphis; I-440 in Nashville; and I-140 and I-640 in Knoxville. I-26, although technically an east-west interstate, runs from the North Carolina border below Johnson City to its terminus at Kingsport. I-24 is an east-west interstate that runs cross-state from Chattanooga to Clarksville.

In a north-south orientation are highways I-55, I-65, I-75, and I-81. Interstate 65 crosses the state through Nashville, while Interstate 75 serves Chattanooga and Knoxville and Interstate 55 serves Memphis. Interstate 81 enters the state at Bristol and terminates at its junction with I-40 near Dandridge. I-155 is a branch highway from I-55. The only spur highway of I-75 in Tennessee is I-275, which is in Knoxville.

Airports

Major airports within the state include Nashville International Airport (BNA), Memphis International Airport (MEM), McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) in Knoxville, Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA), Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI), and McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport (MKL), in Jackson. Because Memphis International Airport is the major hub for FedEx Corporation, it is the world's largest air cargo operation.

Railroads

Memphis and Newbern, Tennessee, are served by the Amtrak City of New Orleans line on its run between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Nashville is served by the Music City Star commuter rail service.

Governance

Tennessee's governor holds office for a four-year term and may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. The governor is the only official who is elected statewide. Unlike most states, the state does not elect the lieutenant governor directly; the Tennessee Senate elects its Speaker, who serves as lieutenant governor.

The Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature, consists of the 33-member Senate and the 99-member House of Representatives. Senators serve four-year terms, and House members serve two-year terms. Each chamber chooses its own speaker. The speaker of the state Senate also holds the title of lieutenant-governor. Constitutional officials in the legislative branch are elected by a joint session of the legislature.

The highest court in Tennessee is the state Supreme Court. It has a chief justice and four associate justices. No more than two justices can be from the same Grand Division. The Supreme Court of Tennessee also appoints the Attorney General, a practice that is not found in any of the other 49 states in the Union. Both the Court of Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals have 12 judges. A number of local, circuit, and federal courts provide judicial services.

Tennessee's current state constitution was adopted in 1870. The state had two earlier constitutions. The first was adopted in 1796, the year Tennessee joined the union, and the second was adopted in 1834. The Tennessee Constitution outlaws martial law within its jurisdiction. This may be a result of the experience of Tennessee residents and other Southerners during the period of military control by Union (Northern) forces of the U.S. government after the American Civil War.

Politics

+ Presidential elections results
! Year	Republican Party (United States)>Republican	Democratic Party (United States)>Democratic
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Tennessee politics, like that of most U.S. states, is dominated by the Republican and the Democratic Parties. Except for in two nationwide Republican landslides of the 1920s (in 1920, when Tennessee narrowly supported Warren G. Harding over Ohio Governor James Cos, and in 1928, when it more decisively voted for Herbert Hoover over New York Governor Al Smith), the state was part of the Democratic Solid South until the 1950s, when it twice voted for Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. Tennessee has since voted for Republicans in most presidential elections, though it tends to be somewhat more moderate than its staunchly conservative neighbors to the south.

While the Republicans control slightly more than half of the state, Democrats have moderate support in parts of rural Middle Tennessee and northern West Tennessee and have strong support in the cities of Nashville and Memphis. The latter area includes a large African-American population. Historically, Republicans had their greatest strength in East Tennessee prior to the 1960s. Tennessee's 1st / 2nd congressional districts based in East Tennessee are one of the few historically Republican districts in the South; the 1st has been in Republican hands continuously since 1881, and the 2nd district has been held continuously by Republicans since 1873.

In contrast, long disfranchisement of African Americans and their proportion as a minority (16.45% in 1960) meant that white Democrats generally dominated politics in the rest of the state until the 1960s. The GOP in Tennessee was essentially a sectional party. Former Gov. Winfield Dunn and former U.S. Sen. Bill Brock wins in 1970 built the Republican Party into a competitive party for the statewide victory. Tennessee has selected governors from different parties since 1970.

In the 2000 presidential election, Vice President Al Gore, a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, failed to carry his home state, an unusual occurrence. Support for Republican George W. Bush increased in 2004, with his margin of victory in the state increasing from 4% in 2000 to 14% in 2004. Democratic presidential nominees from Southern states (such as Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton) usually fare better than their Northern counterparts do in Tennessee, especially among split-ticket voters outside the metropolitan areas.

Tennessee sends nine members to the US House of Representatives, of whom there are seven Republicans and two Democrats. Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey is the first Republican speaker of the state Senate in 140 years. In 2008 elections, the Republican party gained control of both houses of the Tennessee state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. Now considered as 30% of the state's electorate are independents.

The ''Baker v. Carr'' (1962) decision of the US Supreme Court, which established the principle of one man, one vote, was based on a lawsuit over rural-biased apportionment of seats in the Tennessee legislature. This significant ruling led to an increased (and proportional) prominence in state politics by urban and, eventually, suburban, legislators and statewide officeholders in relation to their population within the state. The ruling also applied to numerous other states long controlled by rural minorities, such as Alabama.

Law enforcement

State agencies

The state of Tennessee maintains four dedicated law enforcement entities: the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), and the Tennessee State Parks Department.

The Highway Patrol is the primary law enforcement entity that concentrates on highway safety regulations and general non-wildlife state law enforcement and is under the jurisdiction of the Tennessee Department of Safety. The TWRA is an independent agency tasked with enforcing all wildlife, boating, and fisheries regulations outside of state parks. The TBI maintains state-of-the-art investigative facilities and is the primary state-level criminal investigative department. Tennessee State Park Rangers are responsible for all activities and law enforcement inside the Tennessee State Parks system.

Local government

Local law enforcement is divided between County Sheriff's Offices and Municipal Police Departments. Tennessee's Constitution requires that each County have an elected Sheriff. In 94 of the 95 Counties the Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the County and has jurisdiction over the county as a whole. Each Sheriff's Office is responsible for warrant service, court security, jail operations and primary law enforcement in the unincorporated areas of a county as well as providing support to the Municipal Police Departments. Incorporated municipalities are required to maintain a Police Department to provide police services within their corporate limits.

The three Counties in Tennessee to adopt Metropolitan governments have taken different approaches to resolving the conflict that a Metro government presents to the requirement to have an elected Sheriff.

Nashville/Davidson County split law enforcement duties and authority between the Metro Sheriff and the Metro Police Chief. In this instance the Sheriff is no longer the chief law enforcement officer for Davidson County. The Davidson County Sheriff's duties focus on warrant service and jail operations. The Metropolitan Police Chief is the chief law enforcement officer and the Metropolitan Police Department provides primary law enforcement for the entire county.

Lynchburg/Moore County took a much simpler approach and abolished the Lynchburg Police Department when it consolidated and placed all law enforcement responsibility under the Sheriff's Office.

Hartsville/Trousdale County, although the smallest county in Tennessee, adopted a system similar to Nashville's that retains the Sheriff's Office but also has a Metropolitan Police Department.

Important cities and towns

The capital is Nashville, though Knoxville, Kingston, and Murfreesboro have all served as state capitals in the past. Memphis has the largest population of any city in the state. Nashville's 13-county metropolitan area has been the state's largest since c. 1990. Chattanooga and Knoxville, both in the eastern part of the state near the Great Smoky Mountains, each has approximately one-third of the population of Memphis or Nashville. The city of Clarksville is a fifth significant population center, some 45 miles (70 km) northwest of Nashville. Murfreesboro is the sixth-largest city in Tennessee, consisting of some 108,755 residents. {| |- |valign="top"| Major cities

Chattanooga

Clarksville

Knoxville

Memphis

Murfreesboro

Nashville

Secondary cities

Bartlett

Brentwood

Bristol

Cleveland

Collierville

Columbia

Cookeville

Franklin

Germantown

Hendersonville

Jackson

Johnson City

Kingsport

Morristown

Oak Ridge

|valign="top"| |}

Education

Tennessee has a rich variety of public, private, charter, and specialized education facilities ranging from pre-school through university education.

Colleges and universities

Public Higher education is under the oversight of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission which provides guidance to two public university systems – the University of Tennessee system and the Tennessee Board of Regents. In addition a number of private colleges and universities are located throughout the state.

American Baptist College Aquinas College (Tennessee) The Art Institute of Tennessee- Nashville Austin Peay State University Baptist Memorial College of Health Sciences Belmont University Bethel College Bryan College Carson-Newman College Chattanooga State Technical Community College Christian Brothers University Columbia State Community College Crichton College Cumberland University Dyersburg State Community College East Tennessee State University Emmanuel School of Religion Fisk University Free Will Baptist Bible College Freed-Hardeman University Jackson State Community College Johnson University King College Knoxville College Lambuth University Lane College Lee University LeMoyne-Owen College Lincoln Memorial University Lipscomb University Martin Methodist College Maryville College Meharry Medical College Memphis College of Art Memphis Theological Seminary

Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary Middle Tennessee State University Milligan College Motlow State Community College Nashville School of Law Nashville State Community College Northeast State Technical Community College Nossi College of Art O'More College of Design Pellissippi State Technical Community College Rhodes College Roane State Community College Southern Adventist University Southern College of Optometry Southwest Tennessee Community College Tennessee State University Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Temple University Tennessee Wesleyan College The University of the South Trevecca Nazarene University Tusculum College Union University University of Memphis University of Tennessee System *University of Tennessee (Knoxville) **University of Tennessee Health Science Center (Memphis) **University of Tennessee Space Institute *University of Tennessee at Chattanooga *University of Tennessee at Martin Vanderbilt University Volunteer State Community College Walters State Community College Watkins College of Art and Design

Local school districts

Public primary and secondary education systems are operated by county, city, or special school districts to provide education at the local level. These school districts operate under the direction of the Tennessee Department of Education. Private schools are found in a many counties.

Sports

Professional teams

!Club	!Sport	!League
Memphis Redbirds	Baseball
Nashville Sounds	Baseball
Chattanooga Lookouts	Baseball
Tennessee Smokies	Baseball
Jackson Generals	Baseball
Elizabethton Twins	Baseball
Greeneville Astros	Baseball
Johnson City Cardinals	Baseball
Kingsport Mets	Baseball
Memphis Grizzlies	Basketball	National Basketball Association
Franklin Knights	Basketball	WBA
Tennessee Titans		National Football League
Nashville Predators	Ice hockey	National Hockey League
Knoxville Ice Bears	Ice hockey	Southern Professional Hockey League
Nashville Metros		USL Premier Development League
Chattanooga FC	Soccer	USL Premier Development League

Tennessee is also home to Bristol Motor Speedway which features NASCAR Sprint Cup racing two weekends a year, routinely selling out more than 160,000 seats on each date as well as Nashville Superspeedway.

Name origin

The earliest variant of the name that became ''Tennessee'' was recorded by Captain Juan Pardo, the Spanish explorer, when he and his men passed through a Native American village named "Tanasqui" in 1567 while traveling inland from South Carolina. In the early 18th century, British traders encountered a Cherokee town named Tanasi (or "Tanase") in present-day Monroe County, Tennessee. The town was located on a river of the same name (now known as the Little Tennessee River), and appears on maps as early as 1725. It is not known whether this was the same town as the one encountered by Juan Pardo, although recent research suggests that Pardo's "Tanasqui" was located at the confluence of the Pigeon River and the French Broad River, near modern Newport.

The meaning and origin of the word are uncertain. Some accounts suggest it is a Cherokee modification of an earlier Yuchi word. It has been said to mean "meeting place", "winding river", or "river of the great bend". According to James Mooney, the name "can not be analyzed" and its meaning is lost.

The modern spelling, ''Tennessee'', is attributed to James Glen, the governor of South Carolina, who used this spelling in his official correspondence during the 1750s. The spelling was popularized by the publication of Henry Timberlake's "Draught of the Cherokee Country" in 1765. In 1788, North Carolina created "Tennessee County", the third county to be established in what is now Middle Tennessee. (Tennessee County was the predecessor to current-day Montgomery County and Robertson County). When a constitutional convention met in 1796 to organize a new state out of the Southwest Territory, it adopted "Tennessee" as the name of the state.

Nickname

Tennessee is known as the "Volunteer State," a nickname earned during the War of 1812 because of the prominent role played by volunteer soldiers from Tennessee, especially during the Battle of New Orleans.

State symbols

State symbols include:

State bird – "Northern Mockingbird"

State game bird – "Bobwhite Quail"

State wild animal – "Raccoon"

State sport fish – "Largemouth Bass"

State commercial fish – "Channel Catfish"

State horse – "Tennessee Walking Horse"

State insect – "Lightning Bug and the Lady Bug"

State cultivated flower – "Purple Iris"

State wild flower – "Passion Flower"

State tree – "Tulip Poplar"

State fruit – "Tomato"

State reptile – "Box turtle"

See also

List of National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee

List of people from Tennessee

U.S. state

References

Further reading

External links

State Government Website

Tennessee Department of Tourist Development

Tennessee State Databases – Annotated list of searchable databases produced by Tennessee state agencies and compiled by the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association.

Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture

Tennessee State Library and Archives

Energy Profile for Tennessee

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Tennessee

U.S. Census Bureau

Tennessee Blue Book – All things Tennessee

Timeline of Modern Tennessee Politics

Tennessee State Facts

Tennessee landforms

The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century – a history by J. G. M. Ramsey, 1853

Category:States of the Confederate States of America Category:States of the United States Category:States and territories established in 1796 Category:States of the Southern United States

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Coordinates	58°00′″N56°19′″N
Official name	Jackson, Tennessee
Settlement type	City
Map caption	Location of Jackson, Tennessee
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	United States
Subdivision type1	State
Subdivision name1	Tennessee
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name2	Madison
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Jerry Gist (Since 2007) | nickname:
Area total km2	128.2
Area land km2	128.2
Area water km2	0.0
Area total sq mi	49.5
Area land sq mi	49.5
Area water sq mi	0.0
Elevation m	125
Elevation ft	410
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates type	region:US_type:city
Population as of	2007
Population total	63,196
Population density km2	492.9
Timezone	Central
Utc offset	-6 | latitude | longitude
Timezone dst	CDT
Utc offset dst	-5
Area code	731
Blank name	FIPS code
Blank info	47-37640
Blank1 name	GNIS feature ID
Blank1 info	1289178
Website	City of Jackson Official Website }}

Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area. Jackson is the county seat of Madison County, and its largest city.

Geography

Jackson is located at (35.633132, -88.820805).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.5 square miles (128.2 km²).

Government

Jackson's executive Mayor is elected every four years. In 2007, Jerry Gist was elected to succeed Charles Farmer who had served since 1989.

The City Charter also provides for a legislative body of nine members, each elected by and representing a unique district.

Jackson's City Court Judge serves an eight year term with a fixed salary during each term. The current judge is Blake Anderson. The court may dispose of misdemeanors and hold a preliminary hearing for felonies. If the Judge holds that probable cause is established for felonies, then the decision is bound to the grand jury for indictment and then to Circuit Court.

History

Early settlement

Settlement of Jackson began along the Forked Deer River before 1820. Originally named Alexandria, the city was renamed in 1822 to honor General Andrew Jackson, later President of the United States.

The City of Jackson was founded by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly, passed in 1821, entitled an "act to establish a seat of justice for Henry, Carroll, Henderson and Madison Counties." The act required of land to be deeded to the commissioners. The commissioners chosen by the Legislature were Sterling Brewer and James Fentress. The places had in view for the seat of justice were Alexandria, Golden’s Station, and Jackson. The larger portion of the settlers at that time were living on Cotton Grove Road, and as Jackson was a nearer to them than either of the others, the city was looked upon as the more suitable or desirable site for the seat of justice.

The Tennessee Supreme Court is required to meet in Jackson because at the time of the second Tennessee State Constitution in 1834, Memphis had not yet developed, and Jackson was the most significant city in West Tennessee.

Civil War

Between December 11, 1862 and January 1, 1863, an engagement at Jackson occurred during Confederate Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest's expedition into West Tennessee. Forrest wished to disrupt the rail supply line to Ulysses S. Grant's army, campaigning down the Mississippi Central Railroad. If Forrest destroyed the Mobile & Ohio Railroad running south from Columbus, Kentucky through Jackson, Grant would have to curtail or halt his operations altogether.

Forrest's 2,100-man cavalry brigade crossed the Tennessee River on December 17. Grant ordered a soldier concentration at Jackson under Brigadier General Jeremiah C. Sullivan and sent a cavalry force under Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. Forrest's soldiers destroyed the Union cavalry in Lexington, Tennessee on December 18. As Forrest continued his advance the following day, Sullivan ordered Colonel Adolph Englemann to take a small force northeast of Jackson.

At Old Salem Cemetery, acting on the defensive, Englemann's two infantry regiments repulsed a Confederate mounted attack, then withdrew a mile closer to the city. The fight amounted to no more than a feint and show of force intended to hold Jackson's Union defenders in position, while two mounted columns destroyed railroad track to both the north and south of the town, then returned. Forrest withdrew from the Jackson area to attack Trenton and Humboldt after this mission was accomplished.

Recent history

Before 1989, Jackson had a city commission government consisting of a mayor and two commissioners; however, as a result of a lawsuit which declared that at-large elections served to dilute the voting power of the city's African-American residents, the city switched to election by districts. The dissolution of the former government also created the need for an elected city school board since the mayor and commissioners had formerly served in that capacity. In 1990, the city school system consolidated with the Madison County school system.

Between 1999 and 2008, several violent tornadoes struck large portions of the city including the downtown area, which was devastated in May 2003 by an F4 tornado. Parts of the Union University campus were damaged in November 2002, and many dormitories at the campus were demolished in a storm in February 2008. The McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport was also severely damaged in January 1999. The 1999 storm resulted in eleven fatalities, while the 2003 storm resulted in eight fatalities. The 1999 tornado also damaged the Riverside Cemetery, where 40 known Confederate soldiers, 140 unknowns, and many families of the founders of Jackson are buried.

On May 1, 2010 a severe thunderstorm hit Jackson causing a record breaking 14 inches of rain. This rain caused a flood to destroy many homes and streets.

The cemetery's acres of old trees and many of the statues, monuments, and graves were damaged during the tornado, including the monument of Colonel Robert I. Chester, military colonel from the War of 1812, the oldest Shriner in Tennessee, and son-in-law of John Donelson, one of the founders of Tennessee. His wife, Elizabeth Hays, was the niece of Jane Donelson, who was the sister to Rachel Jackson, wife of President Andrew Jackson.

Railroad history

Jackson developed rapidly just prior to the Civil War as a railroad junction and maintenance shop for several early railroads, including the Mississippi Central, the Tennessee Central and the Mobile and Ohio lines.

The first was the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, which began in October, 1849 in Mobile, Alabama. The line first entered Jackson in 1851. These tracks were completely destroyed during the Civil War. The line merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad in 1940 to become the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The second railroad to enter Jackson was the Mississippi Central & Tennessee. In 1873, the line was contracted and later controlled by the Illinois Central Railroad.

On December 29, 1886, the Tennessee Midland Railway received a charter to build a railroad from Memphis, Tennessee to the Virginia state line. The line from Memphis to Jackson was completed on June 1, 1888. In 1893, the Tennessee Midland went into receivership and was sold at foreclosure to the L&N; Railroad. Around 1968 the remainder of the Tennessee Midland was abandoned east of Cordova with the exception of some track in Jackson, Tennessee. That track is now used to deliver goods to Jackson's east and west industrial parks.

The Tennessee Midland Railway Company line from Memphis to Jackson was the forerunner of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. This line was often referred to as the “NC” by locals. Like all other railroads to enter Jackson, it was built with funds subscribed by citizens and investors of Jackson. The first passenger train to enter Jackson from Memphis was on June 1, 1888. The highly profitable railroad was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad following WWII. After only a few years, the L&N; was merged into and is now part of CSX Transportation.

A charter was granted by the State of Tennessee on August 16, 1910 and construction began on July l, 1911. The first sector extended from Jackson to the station of Tigrett and by April 20, 1912, of the line were ready for operations. On June 16 the remaining sector was set into service, connecting Dyersburg, Tennessee with Jackson. When the line began operations in 1912 it had as its president Isaac B. Tigrett, a prominent young banker of Jackson. The road immediately became an important local thoroughfare, moving much of the produce of the region to market in Jackson and Dyersburg. The Birmingham and Northwestern Railway Company had 4 locomotives, 5 passenger cars, and 92 freight cars. When Isaac B. Tigrett became President of the GM&N; in 1920, he ceased to direct the affairs of the Birmingham and Northwestern Railroad Company. After he became president of the GM&O;, the railroad was purchased merged to become the Dyersburg branch.

During the 1930s through the 1960s one could board fifteen regularly scheduled passenger trains at the two depots in Jackson. The names of some of those trains were ''The Rebel'', ''The Gulf Coast Rebel'', ''The Sunchaser'', ''The Floridian'', ''The Seminole'', ''The City of Memphis'', and ''The City of Miami''. Without change of train, one could travel to Memphis, Nashville, Meridian, Montgomery, Mobile, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Daytona, Orlando, Miami, Centralia, Champaign-Urbana, Springfield, Chicago, St. Louis, and New Orleans.

Hometown celebrities

Jackson was home to Casey Jones, the Illinois Central engineer who, before colliding with a stalled freight train near Vaughn, Mississippi, told his fireman to jump to safety but himself died at the throttle, saving the lives of all his passengers. Jackson was also the home of singers Carl Perkins and Luther Ingram; game show host Wink Martindale; football players Ed "Too Tall" Jones , Al Wilson, Trey Teague, and Jabari Greer; pianist Joe Hunter (one of the Funk Brothers who played Motown hits in the 1960s) and the rock band Full Devil Jacket. Micajah Autry, one of the heroes of The Alamo, practiced law in Jackson from 1831-35.

Aviator Steve Fossett, the first man to fly solo nonstop around the world in a hot air balloon, was born in Jackson. Lauren Pritchard (singer) was born and spent her childhood in Jackson. Actor Christopher Jones was born in Jackson. Jackson was also the original home of Monroe Dunaway Anderson (a cotton trader and capitalist whose financial endowment helped found the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas), and of Isaac Burton Tigrett, co-founder of the Hard Rock Cafe chain of themed restaurants.Musician Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, Illinois, but spent his early childhood in Jackson, the home of his maternal grandmother. Blues harmonica player John Lee Curtis Williamson, better known as Sonny Boy Williamson, was born in Jackson. Environmental advocate, civil rights activist, and lawyer Van Jones was born in Jackson.

Rockabilly musician Carl Perkins was born in Lake County, but lived for a long time in Jackson. Jackson’s Civic Center is named for him. When he died in January 1998, his funeral, held in the chapel of Lambuth University, was attended by musicians including Ricky Skaggs, Johnny Rivers, Wynonna Judd, Sam Phillips, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rufus Thomas, Garth Brooks and George Harrison.

Demographics

[[Image:Jackson-Humboldt CSA.png|thumb|right|300px|Location of the Jackson-Humboldt CSA and its components: ]]

Jackson is the larger principal city of the Jackson-Humboldt CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Jackson metropolitan area (Chester and Madison counties) and the Humboldt micropolitan area (Gibson County), which had a combined population of 155,529 at the 2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 59,643 people, 23,503 households, and 15,135 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,205.2 people per square mile (465.3/km²). There were 25,501 housing units at an average density of 515.3 per square mile (198.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 55.13% White, 42.07% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.88% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.16% of the population.

There were 23,503 households out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 19.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 12.8% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 87.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,194, and the median income for a family was $40,922. Males had a median income of $32,777 versus $23,229 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,495. About 14.0% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.0% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Interstate 40 goes through the city in an east-west direction, and U.S. Route 45 in a north-south direction. Interstate 40 has seven exits in the city. The Jackson Transit Authority line provides intra-city bus service, while the Greyhound Bus line provides inter-city service.

McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport serves the city. Pacific Wings, operating under the name TennesseeSkies, began commercial service from Jackson to both Nashville and Atlanta on August 30, 2009.

Major roadways

Interstate 40 runs east to west from Memphis to Nashville.

U.S. Route 45 runs north to south to Gibson County and Chester County.

U.S. Route 412 runs east from Lexington in Henderson County northwest to Dyersburg, Tennessee and I-55 to St. Louis.

U.S. Route 70 or State Route 1 runs east to west to Huntington and Brownsville.

Education

K-12 public schools in the city are operated by the Jackson-Madison County School System.

Colleges and universities

Jackson State Community College

Lambuth University, a small liberal arts university, operated in Jackson for 168 years before closing in 2011.

Lane College

Tennessee Technology Center at Jackson

Union University

West Tennessee Business College

High schools

Jackson Central-Merry High School

Jackson Christian School

Jackson Preparatory School

Liberty Technology Magnet High School

Madison Academic Magnet High School

North Side High School

Sacred Heart of Jesus High School

South Side High School

Trinity Christian Academy

University School of Jackson

Vann Drive Christian Academy

Middle schools

Northeast Middle School

Rose Hill Middle School

Tigrett Middle School

West Middle School

North Parkway Middle School

Specialist schools

West Tennessee School for the Deaf

Private schools

The Augustine School

University School of Jackson

Jackson Christian School

St. Mary's Catholic School

Trinity Christian Academy

Vann Drive Christian Academy

Hines Memorial SDA School

Jackson Preparatory School

Sacred Heart of Jesus High School

Crime

According to Morgan Quitno's 2010 Metropolitan Crime Rate Rankings the Jackson metropolitan area had the 13th highest crime rate in the United States.

The Morgan Quitno list of the "Top 25 Most Dangerous Cities of 2007", ranked Jackson's as the 9th most dangerous metropolitan area in the United States. In 2006, it had been listed as the 18th most dangerous.

Recreation, sports, and entertainment

Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum is located in Casey Jones Village. The exhibits include a Railroad Museum with steam locomotives and the restored home of Casey Jones.

The West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, a Class AA minor league baseball team in the Southern League, and an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, played in Jackson from 1998 to 2010. The team changed its name for the 2011 season to the Jackson Generals, recalling the same name of the minor league team that played in Jackson in the Texas League in the early 20th century.

The Hub City Hurricanes of the IBL played in Jackson for one season in 2007.

In 1974, a little league team from Jackson played in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA—to date, the only team from West Tennessee to qualify.

From 1990-2011, Jackson hosted the NAIA Women's Division I National Championship basketball tournament in the Oman Arena.

Jackson hosts the annual Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant at the Carl Perkins Civic Center.

West Tennessee Healthcare Sportsplex is a travel baseball and softball complex completed in 2007. It hosts numerous tournaments throughout the year and has contributed to the growth explosion of the northeast corridor of the city.

References

External links

City of Jackson Website

How the Railroads Came to Jackson

Category:Cities in Tennessee Category:Madison County, Tennessee Category:County seats in Tennessee Category:Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area

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Coordinates	58°00′″N56°19′″N
Name	Playa Fly
|background	solo_singer
Birth name	Ibn Young
Birth date	September 02, 1977
Alias	Lil' Fly
Origin	South Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, record producer, songwriter
Years active	1993–present
Label	Prophet Entertainment, Super Sigg Records, Minnie Mae Muzik
Associated acts	Triple 6 Mafia, SPV Click, Playa Posse, Minnie Mae Mafia, Prophet Posse
Website	}}

Playa Fly (born Ibn Young on September 2, 1977 ) is a rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. Fly was a member of the Triple 6 Mafia (now known as Three 6 Mafia, then known as Lil' Fly), but he stopped collaborating in 1995 due to monetary disputes and philosophical differences after recording one album under the group's guidance. Pursuing a solo career as Playa Fly, he released one independent album before signing a three album contract with Super Sigg Records. During that period he had many underground hits, perhaps the most famous being "Nobody Needs Nobody". Fly's early hit immediately gained notoriety from the song "Triple Bitch Mafia", which lashed out against his former group.

Biography

Early life and Triple 6 Mafia

Young was born in Memphis in 1977 and largely raised by his grandmother. His father was the musician Willie David Young, a former member of The Avantis and The Ovations, while his mother was a drug dealer, an activity that Young also got involved in at the age of thirteen.

Under the title Lil' Fly, Young began his career at the age of sixteen, testing the waters with "Don't Never Test His Pimpin" as a start. He eventually became affiliated with DJ Paul and Juicy J of Triple 6 Mafia (Now known as Three 6 Mafia) and under the wing of the up and coming producers, "Slangin' Rocks" was produced (part one featured on his underground single, part two featured on DJ Paul's ''Vol. 16 For Da Summa Of '94''). He was featured on Gangsta Blac's underground hit album, ''Breakin Da Law'', and the Three 6 Mafia's first mainstream album, ''Mystic Stylez''. It was even planned for releasing Fly's first album on their label (which was, at that time, Prophet Entertainment) and his first single, "From Da Darkness Of Da Kut", was released in 1994. After leaving the group a year later, Fly put out his infamous diss record, "Triple Bitch Mafia", then changed his title to Playa Fly and was featured on Tommy Wright III's ''On the Run'' album before signing with Super Sigg Records. Playa Fly has expanded all over the south by influencing young cliques like I.B.N. (who uses Fly's real name as their title), based in Decatur, Georgia.

Super Sigg

In 1996, Playa Fly released his first album with Super Sigg, ''Fly Shit''. The album had songs such as "Nappy Hair & Gold Teeth", "Da Show", "Crownin' Me", "Flizy Comin' (Triple Bitch Mafia pt.2)" and "Work To Do". It included other artists such as Gangsta Blac, Bill Chill, Criminal Manne, Icy K, D-A-V, Tay-Dog and Playa Posse. This album was also where Fly began his association with producer Blackout.

In 1998, ''Movin' On'' was released. ''Movin' On'' had such tracks as "Situation", "Start Runnin", "Nobody", "Funk-N-Bonk" and "Write Sum Bump". It also featured Gangsta Blac, Bill Chill (Fly's father), Minnie Mae Mafia, and Cool B. Fly's father died shortly before this album's completion.

''Just Gettin' It On'', a re-release of his underground solo CD (with a bonus track), was released by Diamond in March 1999. ''Da Game Owe Me'' was released in November of the same year, the last album to be released by Super Sigg Records. ''Just Gettin' It On'' had songs like "Gettin' It On", "Just Awaken Shaken", "Triple Bitch Mafia" and "Fuck A Wanna Be". ''Just Gettin' It On'' included the Minnie Mae Mafia, Terror, Lil' Yo, Gangsta Blac and the late Bill Chill. The album's bonus track, "Fuck A Wanna Be", had a video made for it (under the title "Just A Wanna Be") and is Playa Fly's only music video. ''Da Game Owe Me'' featured Gangsta Blac, Thaistik, Blackout and Terror.

Minnie Mae Muzik

After leaving Super Sigg, Playa Fly created his own label named after his grandmother, Minnie Mae Muzik. On this label, Fly began production on ''Fly2K'' along with the forces of Diamond Records. Midway through the project, Fly was arrested for possession of narcotics and sent to prison to serve a seven year sentence in 1999. The release date for ''Fly2K'' was pushed back from 2000 to 2002. Playa Fly was still present on his album while he was in prison, as he rapped a cappella over the phone ("Flexxin' Skit" and "Sap Sucka"). ''Fly2K'' was released in November 2002, the album included such songs like "Bill Chill Lives" (a tribute to Bill Chill), "Universal Heartthrob", "Here Fly Come", "Club Friendly", "We Ain't Playin Witcha", "Life Goes On" and "Few & Da Proud". The album included other artist like Mista Tito, Maimi Miane, D-A-V, Bubba Wiley, Thaistik, DeRico, R-E-G and LaCynthia.

In mid-2006, Fly was released prison and resumed his career, with a new album planned - ''Mafia All Day''. On July 5, a single "Horses", was featured on the ''XXL'' website. In addition to his release, Fly joined the New Prophet Camp.

In December 2010, Playa Fly released the single "Blast Off", taken from the new ''Mafia All Day'' album that has been delayed for more than two years.

Discography

Albums

1993: ''From Da Darkness Of Da Kut (as Lil Fly) (Underground Album)''

1996: '' Fly Shit''

1998: ''Movin' On'' - US R&B; Albums #90

1999: ''Just Gettin' It On''

1999: ''Da Game Owe Me'' - US R&B; Albums #63 2002: ''Fly2K'' - US R&B; Albums #64, Top Independent Albums #33

TBA: ''Mafia All Day''

Mixtapes

2007: ''Prepare Or Beware: Da Mafia Massacre''

2010: K.O.A.K. (King of All Kings) Produced by DJ Scream

References

External links

Playa Fly MemphisRap.com Profile

Playa Fly interview at Down-South.com

Playa Fly interview at MemphisRap.com

Playa Fly Biography

Category:1977 births Category:African American rappers Category:Rappers from Memphis, Tennessee Category:Three 6 Mafia members Category:People from Memphis, Tennessee Category:Living people Category:Prophet Posse

Sir Charles Jones is an American singer associated with the Southern soul and contemporary blues.

Biography

Jones was born in Akron, Ohio. When he was young, his family moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he was raised. It was in Birmingham where his singing career started.

Jones taught himself how to write his own music, as well as arranging and producing it. In his early career, he worked under the guidance and tutelage of Marvin Sease.

Jones has been crowned 'The King of Southern Soul'. One critic commented that Jones has "a versatile style and wide range of vocal ability; with just a touch of smooth rhythm melodic melodies, and the cry of love, pain, happiness, fun times, and the sincerity of commitment". His style ranges from jazz to fusion, and from gospel to blues.

Awards

''American Blues Network'':

:* International Entertainer of the year 2001-2004 :* Album of the Year 2002 & 2003

B.B. King Achievement Award 2003 & 2004

Albums

''Sir Charles Jones'', 2000

''Love Machine'', 2001

''Southern Soul Party'', 2004

''Riggs Award'', 2005

''Never Miss a Good Thang'', 2006

''Thank You For Holdin' On'', 2006

''My Story'', 2008

External links

Sir Charles Jones. Malaco. 19 September 2006

Biography - 19 September 2006

Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:American blues singers

Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the English National Opera (and its predecessor) and Welsh National Opera and was the first Australian chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Early life and background

Charles was born in Schenectady, New York, to Australian parents, Alan Mackerras and Catherine MacLaurin. His father was an electrical engineer and a Quaker. In 1928, when Charles was aged three, the family moved to Sydney, Australia. They initially lived in the suburb of Vaucluse, and in 1933, moved to the then semi-rural suburb of Turramurra. Mackerras was the eldest of their seven children, including five brothers, the others being Malcolm, Colin, Alastair and Neil and two sisters, Joan and Elisabeth. They are descendants of the pioneer Australian musician Isaac Nathan. Mackerras studied violin at the age of seven and later the flute and was setting poems to music at eight, and wrote a piano concerto when he was 12.

Mackerras initially attended his father's alma mater, Sydney Grammar School, and also St Aloysius College in Sydney. While at Sydney Grammar, he showed a precocious talent by composing operas and conducting student performances in his early teens but his non-musical studies suffered. Unconvinced that music was a viable profession, his parents removed the young Mackerras from temptation by sending him to board at The King's School. The school's focus on sport and discipline led the young artist to run away several times and he was eventually expelled.

At age 16, Mackerras studied oboe, piano and composition at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music. He earned additional income from writing orchestral scores from recordings. In 1943, Mackerras joined the ABC Sydney Orchestra as second oboist and at age 19, became principal oboist. On 1947, Mackerras sailed for England on the RMS Rangitiki intending to pursue conducting. He joined Sadler's Wells Theatre as an orchestral oboist and cor anglais player. He later won a British Council Scholarship, enabling him to study conducting with Václav Talich at the Prague Academy of Music. While there, he formed a strong friendship with Jiří Tancibudek, Principal Oboe of the Czech Philharmonic, who introduced him to the operas of Leoš Janáček, thus commencing Mackerras's life-long passion for that composer's music. Tancibudek later emigrated to Australia himself.

In 1947, Mackerras married Judy Wilkins, a clarinettist. They had two daughters, Fiona and Catherine. Fiona died of cancer in 2007. He was also the uncle of the Australian conductor Alexander Briger.

Early career

Returning to England from Prague in 1948, Mackerras rejoined Sadler's Wells and began his life-long association with the Sadler's Wells Opera, now English National Opera, conducting, among others, Janáček, Handel, Gluck, Bach, and Donizetti. In the 1950s, well before the "authenticity" movement had come to general notice, Mackerras focused on the study and practical realization of period performance techniques, culminating in his landmark 1959 recording of Handel's ''Music for the Royal Fireworks'' using the original wind band instrumentation. In his 1965 performance of ''The Marriage of Figaro'', he added the ornamentation in a historically informed style.

Mackerras also strongly championed the music of Janáček outside Czechoslovakia, where Mackerras himself judged his work with Janáček as his single most important legacy to music. In 1951, he conducted the British premiere of ''Káťa Kabanová''. He was also a noted authority on Mozart's operas and those of Sir Arthur Sullivan. His Sullivan ballet arrangement ''Pineapple Poll'' (1951, just after the expiration of copyright on Sullivan's music), based on one of Gilbert's ''Bab Ballads'', continues to be a popular light music favourite in English speaking countries. Mackerras also arranged music by Giuseppe Verdi for the ballet ''The Lady and the Fool''. He also arranged a suite from John Ireland's score for the 1946 film ''The Overlanders'', after Ireland's death in 1962.

He became principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra from 1954 to 1956. In 1963, he made his debut at London's Covent Garden conducting Shostakovich's ''Katerina Izmailova''. He directed the Hamburg State Opera from 1965 to 1969 and the English National Opera from 1970 to 1977. In 1972, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in New York conducting Gluck's ''Orfeo ed Euridice''. Mackerras worked closely with Benjamin Britten for a time until 1958, when, during rehearsals for Britten's opera ''Noye's Fludde'', he made comments about Britten liking prepubescent boys' company and they subsequently severed their relationship. The events are described in John Bridcut's ''Britten's Children''.

He conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Birgit Nilsson in the opening concert of the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1973.

Later career

Mackerras was a guest conductor of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for ''The Pirates of Penzance'' and ''The Mikado'' during the 1975 D'Oyly Carte Centenary season at the Savoy. He later joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Trust and later its Board of Trustees. In 1982 he was the first Australian national appointed chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a post he held until 1985.

In 1980, he became the first non-Briton to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms.

Mackerras directed the Welsh National Opera from 1987 to 1992, where his Janáček productions won particular praise. One of the highlights of the 1991 season was the reopening of the Estates Theatre in Prague, scene of the original premiere of Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'', in which Mackerras conducted a new production of that opera to mark the bicentenary of Mozart's death. As Conductor Emeritus of Welsh National Opera, his successes included ''Tristan und Isolde'', ''The Yeomen of the Guard'', and ''La clemenza di Tito'' (all of which productions were brought to London). He was the principal guest conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) from 1992 to 1995, and held the title of Conductor Laureate with the SCO. He was principal guest conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 1996. During the same period, he was also principal guest conductor of the San Francisco Opera. From 1998 to 2001 he was the music director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's. From 1987, he regularly conducted the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and was appointed Emeritus Conductor in 2007.

In 2004, he became principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. He was also principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. With the Royal Opera, he conducted productions of Gounod's ''Roméo et Juliette'' and Handel's ''Semele''. Mackerras also had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where he conducted ''The Makropulos Case'', ''Káťa Kabanová'' and ''The Magic Flute''.

In August 2008, Mackerras was announced as the new Honorary President of the Edinburgh International Festival Society. He was only the second person to hold this role, after Yehudi Menuhin. As the original part of the largest arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh International Festival featured performances from Mackerras throughout six decades since his first in 1952.

Mackerras summarised his strategy for working with an orchestra as follows:

Mackerras was the President of Trinity College of Music, London. He also served as Music Advisor to City Opera of Vancouver, a professional chamber opera company led by conductor Charles Barber. He was also a Patron of Bampton Classical Opera.

On 18 December 2008, Mackerras served as the conductor for Alfred Brendel's final concert performance with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Mackerras's last public performance saw him conduct ''Così fan tutte'' at Glyndebourne in the summer of 2010.

Since 1999 Mackerras was a Patron of the Australian children's cancer charity Redkite.

Death

Mackerras died in London on 14 July 2010 at the age of 84, having suffered from cancer. Throughout his final illness, he had continued to conduct, and had been scheduled to direct two of the BBC Proms on and 2010. He was also due to conduct the Scottish Chamber Orchestra performing Mozart's ''Idomeneo'' at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2010, which would have been his 56th appearance at the festival. The director of the BBC Proms, Roger Wright, announced that a Prom would be dedicated to Mackerras's memory. Wright paid tribute to Mackerras, saying "Sir Charles was a great conductor and his loss will be deeply felt by musicians and audiences alike", while Rory Jeffes of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra said that Australia had "lost a living treasure" Mackerras is survived by his wife, Judy, and their daughter, Catherine. His funeral was held at St Paul's, Covent Garden on 23 July 2010.

Recordings

Mackerras made his earliest records for EMI, in the final days of 78 rpm records, and he continued recording well into the era of compact discs in the multi-channel Super Audio CD format. In 1952, he conducted his first recording of his own ''Pineapple Poll'' ballet, which was issued on twelve sides, and subsequently transferred to LP. Some of his early recording sessions were for Walter Legge, standing in when Otto Klemperer and other eminent conductors were ill.

He did not always restrict himself to the classical repertoire. For example, on 1955 he recorded Albert Arlen's song ''Clancy of the Overflow'' (to Banjo Paterson's poem) with Peter Dawson and the London Symphony Orchestra.

A smaller UK record company, Pye Records, asked Mackerras to record Handel's ''Music for the Royal Fireworks''. 'We had to do that in the middle of the night, in order to get our twenty-six oboes together.' The recording, issued in 1959, was received with critical acclaim for attempting to reproduce the sound Handel would have heard, rather than the smoother orchestral arrangements usually played at that time.

In the 1960s Mackerras made the first recording of the Italian version of Gluck's ''Orfeo''. For DG he conducted Purcell's ''Dido and Aeneas'', and for EMI a 'new-look' ''Messiah'', with scholarly texts, small forces and sprightly tempi. He followed that up with Handel's ''Saul'' and ''Israel in Egypt'' for DG. He also recorded the first complete ''Roberto Devereux'' with Beverly Sills.

In 1986, he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in the soundtrack to Carroll Ballard's film version of ''The Nutcracker'' (better known as ''Nutcracker: The Motion Picture''), the first full-length film version of Tchaikovsky's ballet to be given a major release in theatres.

Mackerras recorded three Mahler symphonies and all of the symphonies of Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven. Along with the Mozart operas, these recordings continue to attract critical acclaim; as do his recordings of the operas of Janáček (Decca, Supraphon, and Chandos), and major works of Handel, Dvořák, Martinů, Richard Strauss, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Donizetti, Elgar, Delius, Walton, Holst, and Haydn, among many others.

For Telarc he also conducted Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Trial by Jury'', ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', ''The Pirates of Penzance'', ''The Mikado'', and ''The Yeomen of the Guard''. In collaboration with David Mackie he reconstructed Sullivan's "lost" cello concerto, conducting its first performance with cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and the London Symphony Orchestra at Barbican Hall, London, in April 1986, and a recording for EMI shortly afterwards.

Mackerras's discography also includes a recording of Britten's ''Gloriana'', which won ''Gramophone'' magazine's "Best Opera Recording" in 1994. In 1997, Mackerras recorded ''Le delizie dell'amor'', with the soprano Andrea Rost, for Sony Classical. His most recent release for that label was ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' with the Hanover Band (S2K 63174). Other recent recordings for Sony Classical include Chopin's two piano concertos with Emanuel Ax and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (SK 60771) and (SK 63371). He also recorded Dvořák's ''Rusalka'' (Decca) and ''Slavonic Dances (Supraphon)'', Josef Suk's ''A Summer Tale'' (Decca), Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 20 and 24 with Alfred Brendel (Philips), and Brahms's two orchestral serenades (Telarc). For Linn Records he recorded a two-SACD set of Mozart's last four symphonies with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in August 2007.

Honours

Charles Mackerras was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1974 New Year Honours, and was knighted in the 1979 New Year Honours. In 1978, he was presented with the Janáček Medal for services to Czech music, on stage at the Coliseum Theatre, by the Czechoslovak ambassador. In 1990, he was awarded an Honorary Degree by the University of Hull. In 1996, he received the Medal of Merit from the Czech Republic, and, in 1997 he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for services to music and Australian music. In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal, created to mark the centenary of the Federation of Australia. In 2003 he was made a Companion of Honour (CH) in the Queen's Birthday Honours. In 2005, he was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal, and he was also the first recipient of the Queen's Medal for Music, announced by the Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall before a Proms performance of ''HMS Pinafore''.

References

External links

Charles Mackerras at the Bach Cantatas Website

Charles Mackerras profile and interview at ClassicsToday.com

Charles Mackerras biography and interview at the Philharmonia Orchestra

Interview with Charles Mackerras at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Profile focusing on Mackerras's Sullivan connections

Recent profile of Mackerras

Clip of Mackerras conducting

Photos of Mackerras throughout his life

Mackerras and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the 'Sydney Opera House Opening Concert' in 1973

1956 | after=Vilém Tauský }} 1977 | after=Charles Groves }} {{S-ttl| title = Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra | years = 19821985}} 1992 | after=Carlo Rizzi }}

Category:1925 births Category:2010 deaths Category:People from Schenectady, New York Category:People from Sydney Category:People educated at The King's School, Parramatta Category:Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumni Category:Australian conductors (music) Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Music directors (opera) Category:Gilbert and Sullivan performers Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Companions of the Order of Australia Category:Recipients of the Centenary Medal Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Australian knights Category:Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Category:Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists Category:Cancer deaths in England Category:Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)‎ Category:People educated at Sydney Grammar School

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