Maury County TN Archives History - Books .....Topography, Geology And Geography 1906 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tn/tnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com September 18, 2005, 7:16 am Book Title: Century Review Topography and Geology.-Tennessee has three natural divisions- the East, Middle, and West. In the East the Appalachian chain of mountains rises to a height of 6,000 ft. above the sea. The Cumberland Plateau is about 2,000 and the valley 1,000 ft. The silurian rock in the East would indicate the Aezoic age. Asbestos, kaolin, granite, and copper are found and over 5,000 sq. m. of coal fields. The western valleys are porous silica, and the hillsides in many places quite barren. It has lignite, green sand, and marl. Where the valleys have been overflown by the Mississippi and its tributaries, there is a richsedimentary soil. Middle Tennessee has an elevation of 400 to 1,500 ft., and gives abundant proof that at one time it was the bottom of a great lake. It is surrounded-by a rim, or watershed, 1,200 to 1,500 ft. in altitude, succeeding by terrace declinations to the bottom of the basin at 400 ft. At some remote period the rim was broken by a great convulsion of nature, an outlet made through the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers to the Ohio Valley, on the northwest, while Duck River became the main sewer through the bottom of the basin. From the mountains of the east the Cumberland River flows northward and westward, circling into Tennessee at Nashville and thence into Kentucky, for its last 100 miles running near to and parallel with the Tennessee, which, heading in the same mountain chain, flows southward, making a wide detour into Alabama, and, circling back across West Tennessee, empties into the Ohio at Paducah, Ky., only a few miles below the mouth of the Cumberland. The watershed adjacent to these rivers practically forms nearly the entire rim of the Middle Basin, which was formerly the ridge around this great lake. Climate and Products.-The rim of this Middle Basin inclines to deflect blizzards and cold waves, giving to this region an equable and salubrious climate, but few days passing without some sunshine and only a month or two, at most, each year of real winter weather. The summers are generally as cool as in the North and West, and deaths from sunstroke are almost unknown in the Middle Basin. The State formerly raised its quota of cotton, but the "Less Cotton Convention" induced the farmers to diversify products and give more attention to live stock. Poultry pays especially well here, tobacco ranks high, all cereals do well, vegetables and fruits, grow to perfection. Within the last census decade manufacturing doubled, the year 1900 showing 8,000 plants, employing 50,000 hands and giving a value of $108,144,565 in products, plainly showing the rapid advancement of the South in the productive industries. Southerners are now seeking home investment for their funds; manufactories are rapidly increasing; and, through a diversity of crops, agricultural proceeds have been notably remunerative. Of railroads constructed or under way since Jan. 1, 1904, 63% of mileage is south of Mason and Dixon's line. Agriculture.-The census of 1900 showed 224,623 farms in Tennessee, averaging 90.6 a., about 2-3 of which were operated by their owners. Of these farms, 1-3 are devoted to hay, grain, and vegetables; 1-3 to live stock and dairying; r-8 to cotton; the rest diversified. In 1899 there were produced 67,000,000 bu. of corn, 12,000,000 bu. of wheat, 3,000,000 bu. of oats. The farm acreage is 20,342,058, of which 1-2 is improved land. Value of land and improvements, $265,150,750; of live stock, $60,818,605. The product from farms for 1899 was $106,-166,440, requiring less than $500,000 for fertilizers and $5,000,000 for labor. The value of horses raised was $20,000,000; mules and cattle, $16,000,000 each; poultry and eggs, $4,000,000 each; dairy products, $8,000,000. Maury Co', has 250,000 a. cleared land, on which was raised in 1899 2,400,000 bu. corn, 275,620 bu. wheat, 8,912 bales cotton, 36,384 Ibs. tobacco, 6,579 tons nav, besides fruits and many other products for the homes. Population.-Tennessee had in 1790 but 35,691 inhabitants; 1800, 105,602; and since, as follows: 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 Tennessee 261,727 422,823 681,904 829,210 1,002,717 Maury Co.* 7,772 15,620 18,200 17,090 16,759 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 Tennessee 1,109,801 1,258,520 1,542,359 1,767,518 2,020,616 Maury Co. 32,498 36,289 39,904 38,112 + 42,703 Columbia (1850, 1,747) 2,550 3,400 5,370 6,052 Mt. Pleasant 466 2,007 *Figures for Maury County until 1860 are that of whites only. + Increase in Maury Co. for past census decade, 4,591, or 12.%. The census of 1900 gave 480,243 negroes in the Stats, 'which is less than 1-4 of the total, while South Carolina and Mississippi are above 58% colored. The vote for presidential electors, 1904, gave: Parker, 131,705; Roosevelt, 105,478; Watson, 2,500; Swallow, 2,000; Debs, 1,500; Frazier (D.) for Governor, 135,503; Littleton (R.), 103,409. Additional Comments: From: CENTURY REVIEW 1805 - 1905 MAURY COUNTY, TENNESSEE A Condensation of the Most Important Events of the Past One Hundred Years, and Descriptive Sketches of the Cities and Villages File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/maury/history/1906/centuryr/topograp12nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/tnfiles/ File size: 5.9 Kb