Geographic Center of Tennessee

Geographic Center of Tennessee is a Tennessee historical marker in Rutherford County.

Murfreesboro, on southside of Greenland Tennessee Dr. at Old Lascassas Road

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

In 1834, the State of Tennessee hired Professor James Hamilton to find its geographic center in order to locate the state capital as near as possible to the center of the state. However, certain circumstances and politics left the capital in Nashville, although Governor James Knox Polk wanted it moved to Murfreesboro. In 1976, ½ mile northeast on Old Lascassas Road an obelisk was placed by the Rutherford County Historical Society at the state's geographic center.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1829 · Tennessee (A. Finley, 1829) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1832 · Kentucky (Finley, 1832) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1838 · Tennessee. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1838 · Kentucky (T.G. Bradford, 1838) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1844 · Kentucky (H. S. Tanner, 1844) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

More markers nearby

James M. Buchanan 1919-under 1 mi
Middle Tennessee State Teachers College Training Schoolunder 1 mi
Rutherford Hospital / Middle Tennessee Medical Centerunder 1 mi
Union University1 mi