Whitwell is a city in Marion County, Tennessee, United States, approximately 24 miles northwest of Chattanooga. The population was 1,641 at the 2020 census. Whitwell was incorporated as a city in 1956, having grown as a mining town due to the abundance of coal in the mountains near the town. In 1981, there was a major mining accident when 13 coal miners were killed in an explosion. A full list of the names of those killed in the mine explosion is on a monument at Whitwell High School. Whitwell also has an annual Labor Day celebration that has been celebrated for over 50 consecutive years.
Geography
Whitwell is located at (35.197570, −85.519082). It is situated in the southwestern Sequatchie Valley at the base of a relatively steep escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau. The Sequatchie River passes just east of the city, and forms a portion of its southeastern boundary.
Tennessee State Route 28 (Hudson Street), which forms part of the main north–south corridor in the valley, connects Whitwell with Dunlap to the north and Jasper to the south. State Route 283 connects Whitwell with Powells Crossroads across the Sequatchie river to the east, and State Route 108 (South Main Street) connects Whitwell with Grundy County atop the Plateau to the northwest.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and 0.30% is water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Whitwell had a population of 1,641, a median age of 41.7 years, 20.3% of residents were under the age of 18, 20.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older, there were 90.4 males for every 100 females, and there were 91.2 males for every 100 females age 18 and over.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 1,513 || 92.2%
|-
| Black or African American || 20 || 1.2%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 3 || 0.2%
|-
| Asian || 6 || 0.4%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 20 || 1.2%
|-
| Two or more races || 79 || 4.8%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 58 || 3.5%
|}
2010 census
As of the census