List of city nicknames in Tennessee

This partial list of city nicknames in Tennessee compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities and towns in Tennessee are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to municipal governments, local people, outsiders or their tourism boards or chambers of commerce. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity.[1] Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth"[2] are also believed to have economic value.[1] Their economic value is difficult to measure,[1] but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.[2]

Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency.

• Adamsville – The Biggest Little Town in Tennessee[3]
• Athens – The Friendly City[4]
• Bristol – The Birthplace of Country Music (shares this nickname with Bristol, Virginia)[5]
• Chattanooga
  • Dynamo of Dixie[6]
  • The Scenic City[7]
  • City of Lights[7]
  • Gateway to the South[7]
• Clarksville
  • Gateway to the New South[8]
  • The Queen City or Queen of the Cumberland[9]
  • Tennessee's Top Spot (introduced as a new city "brand" in April 2008)[10]
• Cleveland- The City with Spirit
• Columbia – Mule Capital of the World[11][12]
• Elizabethton – City of Power[13]
• Greeneville – Home of President Andrew Johnson[14]
• Jackson - Hub City[15]
• Johnson City – Little Chicago of the South[16]
• Jonesborough – Tennessee's Oldest Town[17]
• Kenton – Home of the White Squirrels.[18]
• Kingsport – The Model City[19]
• Knoxville
  • The Marble City[20]
  • Underwear Capital of the World[21]
• Lebanon – Appalachian Square Dance Capital of the World[22]
• Lenoir City – Lakeway to the Smokies[23]
• McMinnville – Nursery Capital of the World[24]
• Memphis
  • Barbecued Pork Capital of the World[25]
  • Home of the Blues.[26]
  • Bluff City[27]
  • Birthplace of Rock 'n Roll[28]
• Murfreesboro
  • The Bucket City
  • The Boro
  • Geographic Center of TN
  • Center of the Universe
• Nashville
  • The Athens of the South[29]
  • City of Rocks (reported in the 1880s)[30]
  • Minneapolis of the South (historical)[31]
  • Music City[32]
  • The Protestant Vatican[6]
  • Smashville[33]
• Oak Ridge
  • America's Secret City[22]
  • The Atomic City[34]
• Shelbyville
  • Pencil City[35][36]
  • Walking Horse Capital of the World[36]
• Wartrace – Cradle of the Tennessee Walking Horse.[37]

See also

• List of city nicknames in the United States
• List of municipalities in Tennessee

References

1. Muench, David (December 1993). "Wisconsin Community Slogans: Their Use and Local Impacts" (PDF). University of Wisconsin Extension. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
2. Alfredo Andia, Branding the Generic City :) Archived 2008-05-21 at the Wayback Machine, MU.DOT magazine, September 10, 2007
3. City of Adamsville website, accessed August 12, 2009
4. Athens, Tennessee official website, accessed March 18, 2008
5. Birthplace of Country Music Alliance website, accessed March 18, 2008
6. Tagline Guru City Branding Survey, Tagline Guru website, accessed Aug 18, 2009
7. Chattanooga Info..., University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Department of Psychology website, accessed January 5, 2008. "Chattanooga has for a long time been considered The Gateway to the South. It is at the crossroads of the railroads, major highways, and the Tennessee River. In recent years it has been completely reborn in a transformation that has also earned it the nickname The Smartest City. You can add those great nicknames to its two existing ones The Scenic City and The City of Lights."
8. Clarksville, Tennessee: Gateway to the New South Archived 2008-10-05 at the Wayback Machine, Fort Campbell website, accessed October 11, 2008
9. Queen City Lodge #761 - Free & Accepted Masons, accessed October 11, 2008
10. Clarksville unveils new "Brand" as "Tennessee’s Top Spot!", Turner McCullough Jr., Clarksville Online, April 12, 2008
11. Columbia, Tennessee, Mule Capital of the World, Muletown - Home of Mule Day Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine (website)
12. Columbia, Tennessee - Mule Capital of the World, Roadside America website (accessed January 6, 2008)
13. City of Elizabethton website (accessed May 20, 2008)
14. Listed on welcome signs at the entrances to the towm
15. "2019 Hub City Classic: Battle of the Bands + Greek Stepshow". jacksontn.com. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
16. Refers to the city's Prohibition-era reputation as a center for trade in illegal alcoholic beverages ("Little Chicago" Archived 2006-12-01 at the Wayback Machine on Johnson's Depot website, accessed March 31, 2009).
17. Town of Jonesborough website (accessed January 24, 2008)
18. White Squirrel Wars, Roadside America, accessed April 21, 2007. "Olney, IL; Marionville, MO; Kenton, TN; Brevard, NC; Exeter, ON. Not one, but five towns use albino squirrels as their claims to fame, and none is particularly happy about the others."
19. The Spirit Of Kingsport, City of Kingsport website (accessed May 20, 2008)
20. Knoxville area information Archived 2007-10-30 at the Wayback Machine, Mast General Store website, accessed January 5, 2008. "In the 1800s and early 1900s, the city was very important as a manufacturing and warehouse district. Knoxville was known as 'The Marble City' because of the famous pink marble supplied by quarries surrounding the city."
21. Video: A Monument to underwear, Knoxville News Sentinel website, accessed 20 January 2010.
22. Claims to Fame - Favorites, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
23. The Internet Business Directory for Lenoir City
24. City of McMinnville website, accessed January 5, 2008.
25. Faber, Harold (1993-09-12). "The World Capital of Whatever". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
26. Orkin, David. "THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO: TENNESSEE", The Independent, January 7, 2006, accessed April 22, 2007. "The king is dead, but the Presley legend lives on in Tennessee's largest city, Memphis, which is also the birthplace of the blues and a jewel of the Mississippi."
27. Queen City, Time (magazine), January 30, 1928, accessed April 13, 2007.
28. MEMPHIS TO LEAD NATIONAL CELEBRATION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF ROCK 'n' ROLL, press release dated November 5, 2003, accessed April 22, 2007. " Memphis is known worldwide as the "Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll" – with close to 20 percent of the earliest inductees in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame having come from within a 100-mile radius of Memphis."
29. Nashville: The Athens of the South, About.com, accessed April 22, 2007. "By the 1850s, Nashville had already earned the nickname of the "Athens of the South" by having established numerous higher education institutions as well as being the first Southern City to establish a public school system."
30. Barry Popik, Smoky City, barrypopik.com website, March 27, 2005
31. Carroll Van West (1994), Tennessee's Historic Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide, University of Tennessee Press. Page 85.
32. How Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A.: 50 Years of Music Row, accessed April 22, 2007.
33. , accessed February 6, 2017.
34. At Work in the Atomic City: A Labor and Social History of Oak Ridge, Tennessee Archived 2009-01-16 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 22, 2007.
35. Claims to Fame - Products Archived 2007-04-08 at the Wayback Machine, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.
36. City of Shelbyville official website, accessed January 5, 2008. "We are known as the Walking Horse Capital of the World, and the Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse is crowned at our TWH National Celebration annually. Shelbyville is known as The Pencil City because of its historical importance to pencil manufacturing, although today more "writing instruments" than pencils are produced here."
37. Claims to Fame - Animals, Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.