Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,333 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 40,128 in 2024,
Germantown is an eastern suburb of Memphis. Germantown was founded in 1841 by mostly German emigrants. The town hosts festivals year-round to celebrate their history and German culture. In the city center is the "Old Germantown" neighborhood, anchored by a railroad depot (a 1948 reproduction of the 1868 original) and railroad tracks that recall the community's earliest days of development as an outpost along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.
The city hosts many horse shows and competitions annually, most notably the Germantown Charity Horse Show in June. Other major annual events include the Germantown Festival, an arts and crafts fair, in early September.
Germantown has the lowest crime rate for any city its size in the State of Tennessee. Its police and fire departments have average emergency response time of five minutes (police just under 3 minutes & fire department 5.4 minutes). The parks and recreation department is nationally accredited. The Arbor Day Foundation has designated Germantown a "Tree City USA" for 33 consecutive years. In December 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the City of Germantown earned the 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The city is one of only five municipalities nationwide to have ever received the award. Only 2.7% of Germantown citizens are below the poverty line.
History
Germantown was founded along the Chickasaw Trace on a ridge between the Wolf River and Nonconnah Creek, about east of the Mississippi River.
The first settlers arrived in Germantown about 1825. Between 1825 and 1830, Miss Frances Wright established Nashoba Plantation, a utopian community intended to educate emancipated slaves and teach them a trade. By 1830, the first store was opened as more settlers moved into the area.
The community became known as Pea Ridge in 1833. Town lots were laid out in 1834 by surveyor N. T. German. The name was changed to Germantown in 1836. This coincidentally also reflected the settling of German families.
The town was incorporated in 1841. The Memphis-Charleston Railroad was built through the community in 1852. Germantown experienced setbacks through the period of the Civil War (1861–1865); the yellow fever epidemics reduced its population to a few hundred.
The town rebounded slowly. Churches destroyed in the war were rebuilt, schools were constructed and the population began to return around the turn of the century. The city name was briefly changed to Neshoba, a Chickasaw word meaning 'wolf', during World War I, because of widespread anti-German sentiment in the United States at that time.
During the twentieth century, the community derived its strength through involvement of citizens, as evidenced in the churches, garden clubs and civic organizations. The Poplar Pike Improvement Association and the Germantown Civic Club played vital roles in the physical and social development of the community.
In the last half of the century, after WWII the population grew from about 400 to more than 40,000. Over several decades, elected and civic leadership, with support of citizens, worked proactively to control suburban growth through development regulations, aesthetic controls and strategic planning efforts.
Historical sites
"Old Germantown" is centered around the railroad depot in downtown Germantown on Germantown Road. This was chosen as a central location by settlers in the late 19th century due to its high ground and central location. The depot was rebuilt in 1948 to replace the original structure from 1868. The depot is now home to the Germantown Train Museum. There are signs to commemorate historical sites and parks in "Old Germantown."
Fort Germantown, located on Honey Tree Drive off of Poplar Pike, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was at this site that 250 Union Soldiers built their fortification from the ground in order to guard the Memphis and Charleston railroad during the Civil War. Now, there are replicas of howitzer cannons to mark the fort.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.12%) is water.
The city lies entirely within Tennessee's 8th congressional district, which is represented by Republican David Kustoff.
{| class="wikitable" style="float:center; margin:1em; font-size:95%;"
|+Germantown Presidential election results
! Year
! Republican
! Democratic
! Third parties
|-
| align="center" |2024
| align="center" |62.24% 14,303
| align="center" |35.76% 8,218
| align="center" |1.99% 458
|-
| align="center" |2020
| align="center" |62.47% 15,751
| align="center" | 36.13% 9,109
| align="center" |1.40% 354
|-
| align="center" |2016
| align="center" |66.12% 14,415
| align="center" |28.92% 6,305
| align="center" |4.96% 1,082
|}
Education
Public schools
Germantown is served by two school districts, Shelby County Schools and Germantown Municipal School District.
Elementary Schools:
Farmington Elementary School, Forest Hill Elementary School, Dogwood Elementary School, Riverdale Elementary K-8 School (GMSD) and Germantown Elementary School (SCS)
Middle School:
Houston Middle School, Riverdale Elementary K-8 School (GMSD) and Germantown Middle School (SCS)
High School:
Houston High School: In 2015, Houston High School was rated by The Washington Post as one of America's Most Challenging High Schools.
Germantown High School (SCS): Germantown High School is an International Baccalaureate School, Blue Ribbon School, and is one of the largest high schools in the state of Tennessee, rated as a Reward School in Tennessee for Growth and Achievement measured by perfect scores of 5 each of the past 5 years.
Jason Manuel, former principal of Houston Middle School, is Superintendent of Germantown Municipal Schools. The School Board consists of 5 at large, elected positions.
Germantown Elementary, Middle, and High School remain with the Shelby County Schools district, although they are located within the borders of the city of Germantown and continue to serve a large proportion of Germantown K-12 students as well as students from unincorporated Shelby County.
Private schools
- Daybreak Specialized School
- Evangelical Christian School
- Farmington Presbyterian
- Madonna Learning Center
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School (preschool – 8th grade)
- St. George's Independent School
- The Bodine School
- The Phoenix School for Creative Learning
- Union University – Germantown