Obion County History

    Early Churches and Schools

    Religion and education was important in the county at an early date. In the beginning settlers held religious services in their homes. Reverend Scott, a Cumberland Presbyterian, is said to have preached the first sermon in the county. By 1830 the Associate Reformed Presbyterians had organized a church. Methodists and Baptists also became active in the area about the same time. Around 1839, north of the future site of Union City, in the area of a church site later called Beulah, was an interesting inter-denominational church known as Solitude, and was utilized by Methodists, Baptists, and Cumberland Presbyterians alike.

    Many religious leaders were also leaders in organizing the schools. Around 1832, Reverend Eleazar Harris, who was also a minister to the first church organized in the county, took charge of a school. Prior to that, the school had been held on the farm of Col. Wilson and was taught by William Rochford. Over the next 6 years many more schools sprang up to serve the need of their respective neighborhoods. In 1838, the first school commissioners were elected but schools were limited to about three months duration and attendance was poor. During the Civil War all progress stopped and there was little or no education. All that changed in 1873 when state law required graded public schools, a county superintendent and an eight-month school term. W. F. Shropshire was the first county superintendent.

    Early Agriculture and Industry

    By 1840 Obion County land was rapidly being cleared and agriculture was well underway. Over 1400 people were engaged in this occupation, while only 39 were involved in manufacturing. In that same year 234,000 pounds of tobacco and about that many bushels of corn were produced in the county. Work animals involved totaled nearly 3000 horses, about 1000 mules and an undetermined number of oxen.

    Historically Obion County has been a region of small farms; in 1860 most farms ranged in size from twenty to fifty acres. Tobacco, corn, and wheat were the principal crops. Over the next twenty years the amount of corn increased by fourfold while tobacco, the chief crop, increased to nearly one and a half million pounds. West Tennessee, and especially Obion County, also became famous for it's cotton production. At the London Exposition of 1851, a sample of West Tennessee's cotton was recognized as the finest in the world. Cotton became a key factor in rebuilding the area's economy following the Civil War.

    By 1860 there were at least fifteen sawmills in operation in Obion County. With the presence of some of the world's finest timber and an active sawmill industry, it was only natural that the manufacture of furniture would be one of the county's first industrial enterprises. Following the end of the Civil War, the rail lines made Union City a commercial center, shipping the products of the county's furniture factories and sawmills to eastern markets.

    As the bulk of the timber was cleared away and drainage recovered land from the domain of the creeks and rivers, the true riches of the county, the fertile soil, became increasingly apparent.

    Obion County Goes to War

    Obion County experienced its share of action during the Civil War. In the early months of 1861 Camp Brown, which housed up to ten thousand Confederate soldiers, was established one mile north of Union City in preparation for General Leonidas Polk's invasion of Kentucky and occupation of Columbus in September 1861. The last important engagement in Obion County pitted the U.S. Seventh Tennessee Cavalry under the command of Colonel Isaac Hawkins against Nathan Bedford Forrest's Seventh Cavalry under the command of Colonel Duckworth. Unable to take the Federal stronghold at Union City by storm, the Confederates devised a "Quaker cannon" from a black painted log and wagon wheels and successfully demanded unconditional surrender in Forrest's name. Rebuilding and recovery occupied the years following the war. Business and manufacturing had revived by the early 1880s.

    When Obion County entered World War I it was with almost universal approval of Obion Countians. The pick of the county's young men responded to the call of arms. From all walks of life and with virtually no previous training, almost one thousand young men from Obion County served in the military during WWI.

    In 1942, the government contracted with the privately operated Florida-based, Embry-Riddle flying school to train aviation cadets at a field seven miles east of Union City. It played a huge roll as a very important training area for aviators during World War II. Between construction of the field in 1942 and termination of the base in April 1944, a total 2,196 cadets from all over the United States were trained at the 863-acre field. The presence of so many men from so many parts of the country had a major impact on community life in Obion County. Thousands of Obion County men served in the military during World War II. Many served with Company K, which was organized in Union City on May 1, 1938 and was called to federal service in September of 1940. On February 22, 1944, the company sailed for England and after the invasion of Europe they went into the war seeing combat at the Vire River in July 1944.

    Population

    The population of Obion County increased rapidly in the antebellum years, in 1830 the population numbered just over 2,000, increasing to 12,800 by 1860. In terms of population per square miles, Obion County was the least densely populated of the majority of all other Northwestern counties, having just over 20 inhabitants per square mile.

    Population increased from 15,500 in 1870 to just over 22,000 in 1880, while the density per square mile had increased from 20, prior to the Civil War, to 30 in 1870 and nearly 44 by 1880. This steep rate of growth was unsurpassed in Northwestern Tennessee.

    In 1873 a cholera epidemic greatly reduced the population of Union City, but it was recovering by the early eighty's and soon became the largest business and shopping center in the county due to it's rail facilities.

    Preserving History

    Obion County's rich history has been carefully preserved. Obion County Museum, located in Union City, offers a glimpse into the history of Obion County. Founded in 1970 with the McNatt Collection of antique toys and tools, the museum now includes a log cabin and a one-room schoolhouse. Other permanent exhibits include an extensive collection of historic photographs of Obion County along with a display of Native American artifacts and relics. On Highway 51 is Turner Kirkland's Dixie Gun Works, the world's largest supplier of antique guns and parts. The Obion County Courthouse, built by the Public Works Administration in 1939-40, and the Park's covered bridge near Trimble are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Also listed on the National Register of Historic Places is the first monument ever erected in memory of unknown Confederate dead and was dedicated in Union City on October 21, 1869. Another monument dedicated early in Obion County is the Confederate Monument. A shaft of fifty feet high, it is dedicated to the memory of the soldiers of Obion County who fought for the south. Erected in 1909, it is a proud symbol of a proud people and is the only confederate monument in the United States that faces south. In 1997 Main Street Union City sponsored a multiple property National Register nomination which listed over one hundred additional properties in Union City, including the Capitol Theater, Central School, and the Union City Armory.

    For more information, please visit:

    To purchase books on Obion County, please call Lanzers Printing at (731) 885-0651.

    • Doing Our Job (Obion Countians in WWII)
    • Glory and Tears (History of Civil War)
    • The History of the Night Riders
    • I Had a Real Good Time (History of Troy)
    • Marks on the Land (Story of Obion)
    • Obion County Cemeteries ? Volume I
    • Obion County Cemeteries – Volume II
    • Obion County History – Volume II
    • Past, Present, & Future (History of Union City)
    • Roads less traveled (Self-Guided Tour of Historic Sites)
    • A Time Returned: A Pictorial History of Obion County, Tennessee

    Obion County City Information

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