Tennessee |
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| Entered the Union: June 1, 1796 (16) | Capital: Nashville | |
| Origin of Name: from the old Yuchi Indian word, "Tana-see," meaning "The Meeting Place." | ||
| State Nickname: Volunteer State | State Bird: Mockingbird | |
| State Slogan: America at its Best | State Flower: Iris | |
| State Motto: Agriculture and Commerce | State Tree: Tulip Poplar | |
| State Horse: Tennessee Walking Horse | State Animal: Raccoon | |
| State Songs: My Homeland, Tennessee • When It's Iris Time in Tennessee • My Tennessee • Tennessee Waltz • Rocky Top | ||
| National Forest: 1 • State Forests: 15 • State Parks: 61 | ||
| Famous For: Grand Ole Opry, Music Row, Beale Street Blues, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Country Music Hall of Fame, Graceland (home of Elvis) | ||
| Famous Tennesseans: Samuel Carter (Navy Admiral & Army General), Davy Crockett (frontiersman), Andrew Jackson • Andrew Johnson • James K. Polk (Presidents), Tennessee Ernie Ford, Aretha Franklin, Amy Grant • Dolly Parton, Justin Timberlake, (singers), Minnie Pearl (entertainer), Sequoyah (Cherokee Scholar), Dinah Shore (actress), Wilma Rudolph (sprinter), Lester Flatt (bluegrass musician) | ||
| Native Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birds on this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make. | ||
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| Three groups of Native Americans lived in the Tennessee region. Cherokee claimed Middle Tennessee for hunting, Chickasaw lived in West Tennessee, and Creek lived in the southeastern region. | ||||||||||||||||||
| First visited by the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540, the Tennessee area would later be claimed by both France and England as a result of the 1670s and 1680s explorations of Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, Sieur de la Salle, and James Needham and Gabriel Arthur. Great Britain obtained the area after the French and Indian Wars in 1763. | ||||||||||||||||||
| In 1769 Tennessee saw its first 'settlement' when William Bean built his cabin on Boone's Creek near the Watauga River and several families from North Carolina joined him. | ||||||||||||||||||
| “The Volunteer State” nickname originated during the War of 1812, in which the volunteer soldiers from Tennessee serving under Gen. Andrew Jackson displayed marked valor in the Battle of New Orleans. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The Cherokees in 1828 were not nomadic savages. They had assimilated many European-style customs, including the wearing of gowns by Cherokee women. They built roads, schools and churches, had a system of representational government, and were farmers and cattle ranchers. A Cherokee alphabet, the "Talking Leaves" was developed by Sequoyah. | ||||||||||||||||||
| In 1835 an Indian Treaty was signed which resulted in the "Trail of Tears." Cherokee Indians were marched thousand miles to reservations in Oklahoma. About 4000 Cherokee died as a result of the removal. | ||||||||||||||||||
| On a clear day seven states are visible from Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee's State Capital, Nashville, is known as "Music City" – the country music capital of the world. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville is the longest continuously running live radio program in the world. It has broadcast every weekend since 1925. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country music was born in Bristol, in northeastern Tennessee, where the 1927 Bristol Sessions first recorded the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The largest earthquake in the eastern United States, the New Madrid Earthquake, occurred in the winter of 1811-12 and was felt across Tennessee. Reelfoot Lake was formed during this earthquake. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Reelfoot Lake is touted the "Turtle Capital of the World" | ||||||||||||||||||
| Andrew Johnson held every elective office at the local, state, and federal level, including President of the United States. He was elected alderman, mayor, state representative, and state senator from Greeneville. He served as governor and military governor of Tennessee and United States congressman, senator, and vice president, becoming President of the United States following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. | ||||||||||||||||||
| There are more horses per capita in Shelby County than any other county in the United States. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The only person in American history to be both an Admiral in the Navy and a General in the Army was Samuel Powhatan Carter who was born in Elizabethton. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hattie Caraway (1878-1950), born near Bakerville, became the first woman elected to the United States Senate. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Oak Ridge was instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb. Because of constant energy research, it is known as the Energy Capital of the World. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee has more than 10,000 documented caves, more than any other state. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bristol is known as the Birthplace of Country Music. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States. The park was named for the smoke-like bluish haze that often envelops these fabled mountains. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elvis Presley's home, Graceland, is located in Memphis. It is the second most visited house in the country. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Robert R. Church, Sr. of Memphis is purported to be the South's first African-American millionaire. | ||||||||||||||||||
| A replica of The Parthenon, the famous ancient Greek building in Athens, Greece, stands in Nashville's Centennial Park. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The Cherokee silversmith, Sequoyah, was the only known man in the history of the world to single-handedly develop an alphabet. His syllabus for the Cherokee Nation resulted in the first written language for a Native American people. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The Ocoee River in southeastern Tennessee is rated among the top white water recreational rivers in the nation and was the site for the Olympic white water canoe/kayak competition in the 1996 Olympics. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The world's largest artificial skiing surface is located at the Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort in Gatlinburg. There a 5-acre artificial ski surface permits skiing in any type of weather. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coca-Cola was first bottle in 1899 at a plant in Chattanooga. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tennesse's Ethnic Roots: American 17.3%, African 16.4%, Irish 9.3%, English 9.1%, German 8.3%. ('Americans' are likely of British or Scotch-Irish descent.) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Religion in Tennessee: 82% Christian (64% Protestant, 6% Catholic, 12% Other), 9% No Religion, 3% Other Religions. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The Great Smoky Mountains are known as the "Salamander Capital of the World!" At least thirty species of salamanders live in the park. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was named for the smoke-like bluish haze that often envelopes these fabled mountains. | ||||||||||||||||||
At a Glance
Tennessee Quick Facts
| Entered the Union | June 1, 1796 (16) |
|---|---|
| Capital | Nashville |
| Nickname | Volunteer State |
| State Bird | Mockingbird |
| State Flower | Iris |
| State Tree | Tulip Poplar |
New for 2026
More Tennessee Facts & Photos
In September 2024 the U.S. Board on Geographic Names restored the Cherokee name Kuwohi, meaning "mulberry place," to the highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains. Long known as Clingmans Dome, the 6,643-foot summit is the highest point in Tennessee and a sacred site to the Cherokee people.
The Lost Sea near Sweetwater is listed by Guinness World Records as America's largest underground lake. Discovered in 1905 by a 13-year-old boy exploring Craighead Caverns, the lake sits 140 feet below ground, and divers have mapped more than 13 acres of water without finding its end.
Tennessee's official state gem is the freshwater pearl, designated in 1979. The pearls form naturally inside mussels in the state's rivers, and a farm at Camden on the Tennessee River is the official site of freshwater pearl culturing.
The Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, registered in 1866, is the oldest registered distillery in the United States. It sits in Moore County, which has stayed dry since Prohibition.
Tennessee borders eight other states: Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri. Only Missouri touches as many neighbors.
Fall Creek Falls, at 256 feet, is one of the highest waterfalls in the eastern United States. Its plunge is the showpiece of Fall Creek Falls State Park on the Cumberland Plateau.
Voices of America
In Their Own Words
Andrew Jackson
“No free Government can stand without virtue in the people, and
a lofty spirit of patriotism;
and if the sordid feelings of mere selfishness shall usurp the place which ought to be filled by public spirit, the legislation of Congress will soon be converted into a scramble for personal and sectional advantages.”
President
James K. Polk
"It becomes us in humility to make our devout acknowledgments to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for the inestimable civil and religious blessings with which we are favored."
President
Andrew Jackson
"The Bible is the Rock on which this Republic rests."
President
James K. Polk
"The gratitude of the nation to the Sovereign Arbiter of All Human Events should be commensurate with the boundless blessings which we enjoy."
President
Davy Crockett
"I have acted fearless and independent and I never will regret my course. I would rather be politically buried that to be hypocritically immortalized."
Frontiersman and Politician
Elvis Presley
“I believe in the Bible. I believe that all good things come from God. I don't believe I'd sing the way I do if God hadn't wanted me to.”
Pop Music Star
Amy Grant
"I think that if my kids are completely convinced of God's unfailing love for them, whether they fail or not, they'll have confidence to persevere in life."
Pop Music Star
Davy Crockett
“We have the right as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money."
Frontiersman and Politician
Last updated: July 2026