Halls is a town in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, Halls had a population of 2,091.
The town was founded in 1882 as a railroad station stop. It is named after Hansford R. Hall, one of the founders. Among the early business ventures were sawmills and cotton gins, founded in the 1880s to process local lumber and cotton.
History
The town was not established until 1882, when the Newport News & Mississippi Valley Railroad (later the Illinois Central Railroad) set up a railroad stop on land in northern Lauderdale County. By 1899, the town had its own bank, and the following year the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company had set up a line connecting it to the county seat, Ripley.
The village was originally named Hall's Station in honor of Hansford R. Hall, one of the founders. Other founders were J. S. Stephens and S. A. Jordan, early businessmen of Lauderdale County.
E. Stanfield, general merchant, was first to set up a business at Hall's Station in 1882. Other early businesses included Young & Sawyer, a steam-powered cotton gin; D. P. Shoffner, steam sawmill and wagon material; J. H. Farmer, saw-, grist- and planing-mill and cotton gin. As of 1887, there were about 400 people in the community.
In August 1942, the U.S. Army Air Forces constructed Dyersburg Army Air Field on the north side of town. This was a major B-17 and B-24 base during World War 2. It closed in 1946 and was eventually converted to a municipal airport.
On January 17, 1999, a tornado struck Halls damaging a restaurant and The Halls First United Methodist Church. The church has since been rebuilt in another location.
Geography
Halls is located at .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and 0.27% is water.
Halls is situated on the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area with a high earthquake risk.
Demographics
2020 census
{| class="wikitable"
|+Halls racial composition
!Race
!Num.
!Perc.
|-
|White (non-Hispanic)
|1,319
|63.08%
|-
|Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
|557
|26.64%
|-
|Native American
|10
|0.48%
|-
|Asian
|3
|0.14%
|-
|Other/Mixed
|136
|6.5%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino
|66
|3.16%
|}
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,091 people, 887 households, and 557 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of the census