Nutbush, Tennessee is an unincorporated rural community in western Tennessee that is now considered part of Brownsville, in Haywood County, U.S.A.
Established in the early 1800's, Nutbush is home to two early American churches. Woodlawn Baptist Church and Trinity United Methodist Church. Trinity Cemetery is providing the final resting place to more than 50 Civil War soldiers.
Agriculture is the dominant source of income in the area. Then and now, agriculture is focussed on the cultivation and processing of cotton. Today, cotton is processed in one cotton-processing plant in the community.
Nutbush is best known as the childhood home of singer Tina Turner, in the song Nutbush City Limits she describes the town she grew up in.
Demographics
In 2000, the population of the Nutbush voting precinct (TN 3976) was 259. Of those, 215 were White (83.01%), 42 Black (16.22%), and 2 were of another ethnicity (0.77%). At that time 190 people (73.36%) were aged 18 or older.[1]
Economy
The community's main source of income is agriculture (especially cotton).
After the abolition of slavery, sharecropping was the primary means of income for low income families in the area. Mostly for the cultivation of cotton, land would be used by sharecroppers in return for a share of the crop to the landowner.
Modern machines like the cotton picker have made this method of cultivation obsolete over time as they took over the work from the hand laborers. Today, 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.[2] [3]
History
The Nutbush community was established in the early 1800's by people from Virginia and North Carolina travelling westward. Details about the first settlers in this area are unknown.[4]
Trinity United Methodist Church was founded in 1822. More than 50 Civil War soldiers, both Confederate and Union soldiers, 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.[5]
In 1881 a U.S. Post office was opened in Nutbush and closed again in 1905.[6]
The Woodlawn Baptist Church and Cemetery on Woodlawn Road in Nutbush (also known as Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church) was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its historical significance in 1996.[7]
Geography
Geography
Nutbush is located at 35.70° North, 89.41° West.[8]
The elevation above sea level is 390' (average county elevation for Haywood County).[9]
Cotton-fields and hills dominate the landscape of the 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)[10] and the telephone area code is 731[11].
Trivia
- After her birth in 1939, singer Tina Turner was raised in Nutbush by her grandmother. The house she was raised in as a child no longer exists.[12]
- Tina Turner's song Nutbush City Limits (1973, produced by Ike Turner) is about the town where she was raised, Nutbush, Tennessee.
- The Line dance "The Nutbush" is performed to the song Nutbush City Limits.
- In 2001, Tennessee State Highway 19 between Brownsville and Nutbush was named "Tina Turner Highway"[13]
- Nutbush is mentioned on the TV show Brainiac: Science Abuse. An impersonator of Tina Turner is introduced as "Tina Turner and her Bunsen Burner". With different explosive materials she destroys cars like she "used to do in her lab in Nutbush".
References
- ^ http://www.comptroller.state.tn.us Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury
- ^ http://www.continentalconst.com/ Continental Construction, Co., Inc.
- ^ http://www.atlaspower.com/ AtlasPower, Inc.
- ^ http://www.rootsweb.com Rootsweb - Haywood County, TN Genealogy
- ^ http://www.rootsweb.com Rootsweb - Haywood County, TN Genealogy
- ^ http://www.state.tn.us/TSLA/ Tennessee State Library and Archives
- ^ http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com National Register of Historic Places
- ^ http://terraserver-usa.com/ TerraServer Image Information
- ^ http://www.downloadzipcode.com/ DownloadZIPcode
- ^ http://www.downloadzipcode.com/ DownloadZIPcode
- ^ http://www.bellsouth.com BellSouth
- ^ Information by Sharon Norris, historian and distant relative of Tina Turner
- ^ http://www.nationalenquirer.com National Enquirer
External links
- Photographic Documentation of contemporary Nutbush, Tennessee.
- http://terraserver-usa.com/ Aerial photo of Nutbush, Tennessee.