Cross Plains is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee. The city's population was 1,789 at the 2020 census. Cross Plains was the first area of Robertson County that was settled by European settlers, with the arrival of Thomas Kilgore in 1778.
History
In 1778, American Revolutionary War veteran Thomas Kilgore arrived at the Middle Fork of Red River, three-fourths of a mile west of Cross Plains, making him the first European settler to arrive in Robertson County. Kilgore traveled to this area to claim 640 acres of land, which was guaranteed to settlers who traveled west by the Legislature of North Carolina. Kilgore returned to eastern North Carolina in the fall of 1778, and after the title of his land was confirmed, he traveled back to his settlement with a few other families, and built a stockade which would be known as Kilgore Station. The first building was a double log house erected by William Randolph in 1819. It was also used as a tavern.
In 1873, J.M. Walton established Neophogen College, a private university which operated until 1877. Thomas Drugs opened in 1915; it is one of the oldest establishments in Cross Plains.
In 2004, construction began on "Kilgore Park" located west of East Robertson High School. Construction was completed in 2008. In 2020, the Cross Plains city government announced that they had purchased 148 acres of land on Highway 25 west of Kilgore Park for $1.08 million. City officials stated that the land was purchased for future uses such as an expansion of Kilgore Park, or new schools.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Transportation
;Highways
- 25px Interstate 65
- 25px / 25px U.S. Route 31W / Tennessee State Route 41
- 25px Tennessee State Route 25
Decommissioned highways
- 25px Tennessee State Route 79
The major east-west route, State Route 25 (SR 25), is a thoroughfare between Springfield and Gallatin. Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north-south route between Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville. It intersects SR 25 on exit 112. US 31W, the predecessor to I-65, runs east of the latter route parallel to it. It provides an alternate route for local drivers to White House and Portland.
;History
thumb|left|I-65 at the SR 25 interchange in September 1972, looking north.
In the late 19th century, two major stagecoach routes ran through Cross Plains. The Louisville and Nashville Turnpike ran on the eastern end of town on the border of Robertson and Sumner County and the Hopkinsville and Gallatin Road ran through downtown and east toward Gallatin. The first state route to run through the modern Cross Plains area was State Route 79 in the 1920s, it ran on the old Louisville and Nashville Turnpike. State Route 79 was replaced by U.S. Route 31W in November 1926. The second and last state route to be routed through Cross Plains was State Route 25 which was extended west of Gallatin to Cross Plains by 1939. It replaced the Hopkinsville and Gallatin Road. Around 1953, the original curvy routing of US 31W was replaced by a straighter and more direct route. This rerouting abandoned a stone bridge that has been used since at least 1841. Segments of the old road still see use today as simply "Old Highway 31W". Construction on I-65 near Cross Plains began around 1970. By December 1972, the section south of Cross Plains was complete. Beginning in 2021, the section of Interstate 65 became subject to widening to alleviate traffic strains.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there was a population of 1,789, with 659 households and 513 families residing in the city.
As of the 2020 census, the median age was 41.6 years; 21.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 105.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 101.6 males age 18 and over.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 1,546 || 86.4%
|-
| Black or African American || 83 || 4.6%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 1 || 0.1%
|-
| Asian || 6 || 0.3%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 28 || 1.6%
|-
| Two or more races || 125 || 7.0%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 69 || 3.9%
|}
2000 census
As of the census