Shelby County, Tennessee

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Shelby County, Tennessee
JMR-Memphis7.jpg
Shelby County Courthouse
Seal of Shelby County, Tennessee
Seal
Map of Tennessee highlighting Shelby County
Location in the U.S. state of Tennessee
Map of the United States highlighting Tennessee
Tennessee's location in the U.S.
Founded November 24, 1819
Named for Isaac Shelby[1]
Seat Memphis
Largest city Memphis
Area
 • Total 785 sq mi (2,033 km2)
 • Land 763 sq mi (1,976 km2)
 • Water 22 sq mi (57 km2), 2.8%
Population (est.)
 • (2014) 938,803
 • Density 1,216/sq mi (470/km²)
Congressional districts 8th, 9th
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website www.shelbycountytn.gov

Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 927,644.[2] It is the state's largest county both in terms of population and geographic area. Its county seat is Memphis,[3] the most populous city in Tennessee. The county was named for Governor Isaac Shelby (1750–1826) of Kentucky.

Shelby County is part of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. Within the Mississippi Delta, the county developed as a center of cotton plantations in the antebellum era, and cotton continued as an important commodity crop well into the 20th century. The economy has become more diversified.

History

Shelby County was established by European-American migrants in 1819. The county was part of the lands acquired by the United States government from the Chickasaw as part of the Jackson Purchase of 1818. The county was named for Isaac Shelby, the former governor of Kentucky who had helped negotiate the land acquisition.[1] From 1826 to 1868, the county seat was located at Raleigh, Tennessee on the Wolf River; after the American Civil War, in recognition of the growth of Memphis, it was moved there. (Raleigh is now within the city limits of Memphis.)[1] The lowlands in the Mississippi Delta, closest to the Mississippi River, were developed for large cotton plantations; their laborers were overwhelmingly enslaved African Americans. Well before the American Civil War, the population of the county was majority black and mostly slaves. Memphis developed as a major cotton market, with many brokers.

In the 20th century, mechanization of agriculture and the Great Migration resulted in many African Americans moving from rural areas into Memphis and northern cities for work and other opportunities. After World War II, highways were constructed that led to development of much new housing; suburbanization, with retail businesses following new residents, took place in the county. With continued residential and suburban development, the population became majority white. Six towns in the county have become incorporated; other communities are unincorporated. Residents enjoy many parks in the area as well as attractions in the city of Memphis.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 785 square miles (2,030 km2), of which 763 square miles (1,980 km2) is land and 22 square miles (57 km2) (2.8%) is water.[4] It is the largest county in Tennessee by area. The lowest point in the state of Tennessee is located on the Mississippi River in Shelby County (just outside the Memphis city limits), where the river flows out of Tennessee and into Mississippi.

Rivers

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1820 364 —
1830 5,648 1,451.6%
1840 14,721 160.6%
1850 31,157 111.7%
1860 48,092 54.4%
1870 76,378 58.8%
1880 78,430 2.7%
1890 112,740 43.7%
1900 153,557 36.2%
1910 191,439 24.7%
1920 223,216 16.6%
1930 306,482 37.3%
1940 358,250 16.9%
1950 482,393 34.7%
1960 627,019 30.0%
1970 722,014 15.2%
1980 777,113 7.6%
1990 826,330 6.3%
2000 897,472 8.6%
2010 927,644 3.4%
Est. 2014 938,803 [5] 1.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8]
1990-2000[9] 2010-2014[2]
Population pyramid Shelby County[10]

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 927,644 people residing in the county. 52.1% were Black or African American, 40.6% White, 2.3% Asian, 0.2% Native American, 3.3% of some other race and 1.4 of two or more races. 5.6% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 897,472 people, 338,366 households, and 228,735 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,189 people per square mile (459/km²). There were 362,954 housing units at an average density of 481 per square mile (186/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 48.56% Black, or African American, 47.34% White, 0.20% Native American, 1.64% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.20% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 2.60% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 338,366 households out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.80% were married couples living together, 20.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.18.

Scenic view in Shelby Farms park

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.20% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 31.10% from 25 to 44, 21.00% from 45 to 64, and 10.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 91.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,593, and the median income for a family was $47,386. Males had a median income of $36,932 versus $26,776 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,856. About 12.90% of families and 16.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.90% of those under age 18 and 13.30% of those age 65 or over.

Law and government

The first county government was established as a quarterly court in 1820. During Reconstruction following the American Civil War, Governor William G. Brownlow appointed a five-member commission to govern the county. When the state drafted a new constitution in 1870, it required county officials to be elected by the people or the Quarterly Court. By 1910 the Shelby County Quarterly Court had 50 members, making it inefficient; some prominent people complained it was "too democratic."

E. H. Crump, the political boss of Memphis who was also influential in the county and state, gained a 1911 legislative act creating a three-member executive commission for the Shelby County Commission, which could override the court on all issues except setting property taxes, which was protected by the state constitution. He also had the number of districts reduced to nineteen and then seven.[12] After Crump's death in 1954, the executive commission of the county was abolished.[13]

In 1964 the US Supreme Court ruled in Baker v. Carr that legislative districts had to be apportioned by population under the Equal Protection Clause, a principle known as one man, one vote. This change was incorporated in Shelby County, which had been biased toward geographic representation. In 1965, there were nine districts established, of roughly equal population, to elect members to the Quarterly Court.[12] These have been redistricted as needed based on decennial census population changes.

In 1975 the people voted to ratify the Shelby County Restructure Act, creating a single elected executive, with the title of mayor, and an eleven-member legislative body (now called the County Commission). The Commission has been expanded to thirteen members. The mayor and all the county commissioners are elected at-large; the latter represent 13 districts.[14] The members of the county commission serve four-year terms.

Other elected officials in Shelby County include the sheriff, the chief law enforcement officer; trustee, chief tax collector, and assessor, the chief property appraiser.[15]

The government has an annual budget of $1.1 billion and 6,000 employees.

Until 1996, the Shelby County Commission appointed members to the Shelby County School Board. This system was changed to comply with interpretation by the state that its constitution required that county officials, including school board members, should be elected by all residents of the county, and provisions of the state Education Improvement Act. In 1996 under what was known as Plan C, the Shelby County Commission established seven single-member special election districts for election of county school board members by all residents of the county. This was challenged in the case known as Board of County Commissioners of Shelby County Tennessee v. Burson.[16] Shelby County and its Board of Commissioners as plaintiffs, joined by mayors of the six suburban municipalities, filed suit in 1996 against Plan C, arguing that their rights were violated under the "one person, one vote" principle embodied in the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution, as their vote would be diluted. Although Memphis City had its own school system, the Memphis population made up 74.8% of the county's population in the 1990 census, so its representatives would dominate an elected county school board, with six of seven positions. Thus Memphis representatives would dominate a system intended to serve only county residents and students who lived outside the city.[16]

The US district court found in this case:

  • the City of Memphis did not provide significant financial support to the Shelby County School District, and received money from the county;
  • the overwhelming voting power of the out-of-district Memphis residents virtually guaranteed that out-of-district residents would control the Shelby County Board of Education;  
  • the number of actual crossover students was minimal, and the potential for additional crossovers was severely limited by a longstanding desegregation order;  and
  • there were, at most, a few relatively minor joint programs between the districts. Accordingly, the district court concluded that the county-wide election of local school board members under Plan C was unconstitutional as applied in Shelby County and enjoined its implementation."[16] The lower court noted that in a similar case of Duncan (1995), it had held that "the relevant geopolitical entity for purposes of the "one person, one vote" analysis in cases such as this is the school district, not the entire county."[16][17] When appealed, the lower court's decision was upheld, saying the "Constitution prevented the State of Tennessee from including Memphis voters in the electorate for the Shelby County Board of Education."[16]

As a result, the County Commissioners established seven single-member special election districts in the county outside the limits of Memphis, for the purpose of electing school board members to the Shelby County School Board.

Mayors

  • Mark Luttrell is the County Mayor and a former Shelby County Sheriff
  • Joe Ford served as Interim Mayor in 2009
  • A C Wharton, 2002-2009 (former Mayor of Memphis)
  • Jim Rout 1994-2002[18]
  • William N. (Bill) Morris, 1978-1994
  • Roy Nixon, 1976-1978

Shelby County Courthouse

The Shelby County Courthouse, located in Memphis on Adams Avenue between North 2nd and North 3rd streets, was designed by James Gamble Rogers and completed in 1909. This neoclassical pile features a long portico topped by a cornice supported by massive Ionic columns. The ambitious sculptural program designed by J. Massey Rhind includes the pediment groups, Canon Law, Roman Law, Statutory Law, Civil Law and Criminal Law. Female allegorical figures can be found on the north facade cornice representing Integrity, Courage, Mercy, Temperance, Prudence and Learning. Flanking the main entrances are over-life-sized seated figures embodying Wisdom, Justice, Liberty, Authority, Peace and Prosperity.

It is by far the largest courthouse in the state. The courthouse was featured in the movie The Silence of the Lambs as the place where Dr. Hannibal Lecter was held and escapes custody.

  • Justice

  • Authority

  • Wisdom

Education

Until the end of the 2012-2013 school year, almost all areas in Shelby County that were outside the city of Memphis were zoned to schools operated by Shelby County Schools. Schools in Memphis were operated by Memphis City Schools. On June 30, 2013, Memphis city and Shelby County schools consolidated, forming a unified county school system (still called Shelby County Schools). This lasted one year.

In 2014, the incorporated suburbs of Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland, and Millington broke away from the Unified System and formed their own municipal districts. Their residents had previously voted in favor of creating municipal school districts, and all voted to pass the related sales tax hike except for Millington, which narrowly rejected the sales tax hike by three votes.[19] On November 27, 2012, U.S. district court Judge Samuel Mays voided this vote since the state law passed at the time applied only to a specific area (which is unconstitutional). The Tennessee state legislature passed the law again, to include all of the state. All six suburbs voted again for the municipal districts and started classes on August 4, 2014.

Memphis is home to Baptist College of Health Sciences, Christian Brothers University, Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide (Memphis Campus),[20] Harding School of Theology, LeMoyne–Owen College, Memphis College of Art, Memphis Theological Seminary, Rhodes College, Southern College of Optometry, Southwest Tennessee Community College, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and the University of Memphis.

Cordova is home to Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. Germantown is home to a satellite campus of Union University.

Transportation

Major highways

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* Once fully completed the mainline of I-69 will travel from Brownsville, TX to Port Huron, MI.

Air travel

Shelby County is the site of Memphis International Airport, located 3 miles (5 km) south of the center of Memphis.

Recreation

Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park

Parks

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Attractions

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Sports

Communities

Map of Shelby County, Tennessee.svg

Numbers refer to the map at right.

Cities and towns

Towns

Unincorporated communities

Notable people

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See also: List of people from Memphis, Tennessee

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Edward F. Williams III, "Shelby County," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved: 31 March 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Based on 2000 census data
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "A Brief History of Shelby County", Shelby County, TN website
  13. ↑ Edward F. Williams III, "Shelby County", Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2009/2011
  14. ↑ Shelby County Commission, Shelby County Government website
  15. ↑ Shelby County Topic Page, "News about the Shelby County government", The Commercial Appeal
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Board of County Commissioners of Shelby County Tennessee v. Burson (1997), Findlaw
  17. ↑ Duncan, 69 F.3d at 93.4
  18. ↑ "Haslam Recruits Former Shelby County Mayor to Leadership Team," TNReport, 30 June 2010. Retrieved: 31 March 2013.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Embry-Riddle Worldwide official website. Retrieved: 31 March 2013.

External links

 Tipton County
Crittenden County, Arkansas Fayette County
  Shelby County, Tennessee  
DeSoto County, Mississippi Marshall County, Mississippi

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