Adams is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee, United States. It is near the Kentucky state line. The population was 624 at the 2020 census.
History
The first settlers in what is now Adams arrived in the late 18th century. The Red River Baptist Church, one of the first churches founded west of the Cumberland Plateau, was built on the banks of the Red River in 1791. The congregation relocated to its current location on Church Street in 1898.
left|210px|thumb|[[Tennessee Historical Commission|THC marker along US 41 in Adams recalling the Bell Witch haunting]]
Adams developed in the late 1850s as a station on the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad (later part of the L&N system). Most of the city's early buildings were destroyed during the Civil War. The city originally incorporated as Red River in 1869, but was renamed Adams Station in honor of James Reuben Adams, who owned much of the land on which the city was built. The name was simplified to "Adams" in 1898. By the late 1880s, Adams was home to several stores, a flour mill, two churches, and a school. The city repealed its charter in 1899, but reincorporated in 1908, and incorporated as a city in 1963.
During the 1920s, Adams began to receive a steady flow of automobile traffic due to its location along U.S. Route 41, which was one of the main roads linking the Chicago area with Florida. The city began to decline in the mid 20th century with the discontinuance of passenger rail traffic and the construction of Interstate 24 and Interstate 65 (which drew much of the automobile traffic away from US 41). A memorial to the Bell family can be found at Bellwood Cemetery. The city's municipal offices are now located in the former Bell School, which was built in 1920 and named for a descendant of John Bell. A log cabin built by John Bell around 1810 has been relocated to a plot across from the Bell School.
Geography
The city is situated in northwestern Robertson County at the intersection of U.S. Route 41, which connects Adams with Springfield to the southeast and Guthrie, Kentucky, to the northwest, and State Route 76, which connects Adams with Clarksville to the southwest. The city's boundaries stretch northward and westward to the Red River, a tributary of the Cumberland River.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Adams had a population of 624, with 232 households and 138 families residing in the city. The median age was 40.5 years; 21.5% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.1% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.8 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 232 households in Adams, of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.6% were married-couple households, 16.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 553 || 88.6%
|-
| Black or African American || 22 || 3.5%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 7 || 1.1%
|-
| Asian || 2 || 0.3%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 11 || 1.8%
|-
| Two or more races || 29 || 4.6%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 16 || 2.6%
|}
2000 census
As of the census
{| class="wikitable"
|+Adams City Commission
!Position
!Name
|-
|Mayor
|Robert W. Evans
|-
|Vice Mayor
|Megan Baird
|-
|Commissioner
|Tyler Estep
|-
|City Manager
|Anna Redfern
|-
|City Recorder
|Leslie Phelps
|}
References
External links
- Municipal Technical Advisory Service entry for Adams — information on local government, elections, and link to charter