Denmark, Tennessee
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History
Denmark was one of the first-settled places in Madison County. The land on which it was incorporated in 1854 was opened by Thomas Sanders in 1822. Presbyterian and Methodist churches were established in the area in 1833 and 1842.[4] By January 1844, the community had been sufficiently populated that the Tennessee General Assembly incorporated an academy for education of white boys.[5] Prior to the Civil War, Denmark flourished and rivaled neighboring Jackson in size.[3]
During the American Civil War, Union soldiers repulsed a Confederate raid near Denmark in the Battle of Britton's Lane in September 1862.[6][7] Union troops occupied Tennessee from that year to the end of the war.
Following the Civil War, Denmark's economy experienced a pronounced decline because the town was bypassed by all of the railroads built through Madison County. Although its population was about 250 in 1886,[4] Denmark's population declined dramatically in the following decades. On April 28, 1983, its municipal charter was revoked by a chancery court order after the Tennessee legislature passed a statute providing for the forfeiting of charters of any city with a population under 100.[8]
The local high school, chartered in 1885,[4] was merged into South Side High School in Jackson in 1992.[9] The local middle school was disestablished, and its campus was developed for the West Tennessee Regional Training Center.[10] Denmark Elementary is the community's only remaining school.[11]
Destructive weather
Denmark has suffered repeated weather catastrophes that have contributed to the community's decline.[3] A devastating tornado on October 14, 1909, accompanied by a thunderstorm and subsequent fires, inflicted immense damage.[12] Another tornado, in 2003, was as destructive as the one nearly a century before.[13]
Climate
Denmark's climate is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Denmark has a Humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[14]
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Notable people
- Walt Bond, Negro league baseball player who later moved to the Major League Baseball Cleveland Indians
- John Murrell, a 19th-century horse and slave thief and noted outlaw of the Natchez Trace who had family who lived in Denmark during his imprisonment
In popular culture
Two mystery novels take place in part in a fictional version of Denmark: Such Vicious Minds: A Murder Mystery Featuring Elvis Presley by Daniel Klein, and Something Rotten by Alan Gratz.
References
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- ↑ "Chapter LXXXVI: An act to incorporate the Denmark male academy in the county of Madison," in Acts Passed at the First Session of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee 1843–44. Nashville: L. Gifford and E. G. Eastman, Prs., 1844; pp. 101–102.
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- ↑ "Part 3: Forfeiture of Charter: 6-52-301 through 6-52-304" Tennessee Code Annotated, Volume 2B, 2011 Replacement. Nashville: Tennessee Code Commission, 2011; pp. 221–223.
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- ↑ Coggins, Allen R. (2012). Tennessee Tragedies: Natural, Technological, and Societal Disasters in the Volunteer State. University of Tennessee Press. p. 73.
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External links
- Big Black Creek Historical Association website
- Britton's Lane Battlefield Association Script error: No such module "webarchive".
- The Life and Adventures of John A. Murrell, the Great Western Land Pirate
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