Giles County, Tennessee

Giles County, Tennessee
Giles County courthouse in Pulaski, Tennessee
Location in the state of Tennessee
Tennessee's location in the U.S.
Founded	November 14, 1809
Named for	William B. Giles
Seat	Pulaski
Largest city	Pulaski
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	611 sq mi (1,583 km²) 611 sq mi (1,582 km²) 0 sq mi (1 km²), .04%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	29,485 48/sq mi (19/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	http://www.gilescounty-tn.us/

Giles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 29,485. Its county seat is Pulaski.

Southern agriculture pioneer and publisher Cully Cobb was born in Giles County. He was an editor of Progressive Farmer magazine before accepting an appointment in Washington, D.C., in Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration as director of the Cotton Division of the New Deal agency, the Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 611 square miles (1,582.5 km²), of which 0.04% is water.

Adjacent counties

• Maury County (north)
• Marshall County (northeast)
• Lincoln County (east)
• Limestone County, Alabama (south)
• Lawrence County (west)

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 29,447 people, 11,713 households, and 8,363 families residing in the county. The population density was 48 people per square mile (19/km²). There were 13,113 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile (8/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 86.44% White, 11.80% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Age pyramid Giles County

There were 11,713 households out of which 31.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.80% were married couples living together, 11.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.60% were non-families. 25.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.50% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 27.90% from 25 to 44, 24.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,824, and the median income for a family was $41,714. Males had a median income of $31,221 versus $22,221 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,543. About 9.00% of families and 11.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.50% of those under age 18 and 14.80% of those age 65 or over.

History

Giles County is named after William Branch Giles, who was Senator of Virginia and sponsored the admission of Tennessee as the sixteenth state into the Union. He also sponsored the building of the city and courthouse, which has burned four times. The current courthouse was built in 1859 by the George Moore and Sons company. It cost about thirty thousand dollars to complete. Though it stood through the Civil War, it suffered much damage. One of Giles County's local heroes is James McCullam, who served as Grandmaster of the Tennessee Masons, a member of the Confederate Congress, and mayor. He lived in Giles County for seventy years.

Until Maury County was established in November 1807, the area of the future Giles County was considered to be part of Williamson County. Two years after the formation of Maury County, Giles County was created from southern Maury County on November 14, 1809 by an act of the State Legislature. Nearly half of the new county lay in Chickasaw territory until September 1816.

Crime

On November 15, 1995, Giles County received minor notoriety after a shooting occurred at Richland High School in the community of Lynnville. The incident was when senior student Jamie Rouse shot two teachers and one female student in the north entrance of the school. Teacher Carolyn Foster and student Diane Collins were killed, and teacher Carolyn Yancey was wounded in the incident. Rouse was convicted of the shooting and sentenced to life in prison. Stephen Abbott, a senior student, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the shooting. Abbott drove Rouse to Richland High School that morning, knowing of Rouse's intentions to shoot teachers there.

This incident is cited as a major school shooting to occur prior to the Columbine High School massacre of 1999.

In 2000, there were 1,268 arrests made in Giles County, with 781 arrests in the city of Pulaski. One homicide occurred in that year. Based on an 2003 recording conducted by the Uniform Crime Report, the delinquency rate dropped to 71 arrests being made, with 8.8 percent of the county population being arrested that year. No homicides occurred in Giles County in 2003.

Transportation

Airport

Abernathy Field is a public use airport owned by Giles County and the City of Pulaski. It is located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of Pulaski.

Notable people

• Aaron V. Brown, Governor of Tennessee from 1845 to 1847; resident of Giles County.
• Neill S. Brown, Governor of Tennessee from 1847 to 1849; born in Giles County.
• John C. Brown, Governor of Tennessee from 1871 to 1875; born in Giles County.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Giles County, Tennessee

External links

• Giles County, TNGenWeb - free genealogy resources for the county
• Giles County at the Open Directory Project