Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 44,431 at the 2020 census and is estimated to be 52,489 as of 2024. Named for United States Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, the city was established on the Cumberland River and made the county seat of Sumner County in 1802. It is located about 30.6 miles northeast of the state capital of Nashville, Tennessee.
Several national companies have facilities or headquarters in Gallatin, including Facebook, Gap, Inc., Beretta and Servpro Industries LLC. Gallatin was formerly the headquarters of Dot Records. The city is also the site of Volunteer State Community College, a two-year college with more than 70 degree programs. In 2017, Gallatin was ranked as "The Nicest Place In America" by Reader's Digest.
History Prior to Gallatin's official establishment, the area along Station Camp Creek was secured by early pioneers. In 1780, Captain William Asher established Asher's Station. This fortified stockade served as a vital defensive outpost and a voting hub under the Cumberland Compact. Gallatin was later established in 1802 as the permanent county seat of Sumner County, in what is called the Middle Tennessee region of the state. The town was named after Albert Gallatin, Secretary of Treasury to Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Andrew Jackson became one of the first to purchase a lot when the town was surveyed and platted in 1803. The town was built around a traditional plan of an open square. Jackson founded the first general store in Gallatin.Sumner County Fact Book 2007–2008. The News Examiner & The Hendersonville Star News. 2007.
In 1803, the first county courthouse and jail were built on the central town square. In 1815, the town was incorporated. In the mid-20th century, it operated under a charter established by a 1953 Private Act of the State Legislature.
American Civil War During the secession crisis just before the Civil War, the citizens of Gallatin hoped to remain neutral; they were opposed to secession from the Union. Once the fighting began, however, they gave almost unanimous support to the Confederacy and volunteered to serve in defense of their state.
The Union Army captured Gallatin in February 1862, following Ulysses S. Grant's capture of Fort Donelson. Gallatin was strategic both because of the railroad, which ran east–west through the state, and its location on the Cumberland River, both of which the Union Army sought to control. In July 1862, General John Hunt Morgan recaptured Gallatin and held it until October, when the Confederate forces fell back to Chattanooga.
In November 1862, Union General Eleazer A. Paine retook the town, and Union troops occupied it throughout the remainder of the war and into 1867. Paine was notoriously cruel and was replaced in command before the end of the war because of his behavior. Alice Williamson, a local 16-year-old girl, kept a diary during 1864 and described Paine's execution of alleged spies without trial, some in the public square. Others were taken to the river and shot there.Alice Williamson Diary , Duke University Special Collections Library, accessed October 11, 2007 The long occupation, in which the troops lived off the land, disrupted civil society in the region.
Even before the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863, many enslaved African Americans freed themselves by leaving farms and plantations with their families to join the Union troops in Gallatin and other parts of the state. The Army established a contraband camp here. The ex-slaves were provided food and housing, and put to work. In 1864, schools were set up in the camp to teach both children and adults to read and write.John F. Baker, Jr., The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Family's Journey to Freedom, New York: Atria Books, 2009, p. 185
In July 1863, some 200 local ex-slaves were among the first in the state to volunteer for the United States Colored Troops (USCT), enlisting at the Gallatin public square. They were assigned to the 13th Tennessee at Nashville. About two months later, a full regiment of 1,000 men, the 14th Tennessee USCT at Gallatin, was recruited from ex-slaves in Nashville, Gallatin and Murfreesboro.
Men from Gallatin were among those from the 12th and 13th TN Infantry USCT who built a rail line through nearby Waverly and the earthen Fort Hill near that town for regional defense.
The long enemy occupation drained the area of resources. Union troops confiscated livestock and crops from local farms. By the end of the war, widespread social and economic breakdown existed in the area, accompanied by a rise in crime. Occupation forces of the Union Army remained in Gallatin until 1870 after the war.Durham, Walter T. Rebellion Revisited: A History of Sumner County, Tennessee from 1861 to 1870, Franklin, Tennessee: Hillsboro Press, 1999, 2nd edition)
Through this period, many freedmen had moved from the farms into town, to gather in black communities away from white oversight. At the same time, many white residents moved from town out to farms to avoid the occupying troops. The area lost numerous men to the war and took years to recover. Its continued reliance on agriculture slowed the economy, and planters and other employers struggled with the shift to a free labor system.
Cholera, 1873 In summer 1873, Gallatin was devastated by an epidemic of cholera, which was part of a pandemic that had started in India in 1865. It moved west into Europe, and finally was carried by passengers on ships across the Atlantic Ocean, the third such pandemic to reach the United States. In the Mississippi River system, it started with cases first recorded in New Orleans in February 1873. The disease spread upriver with travelers to ports along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The poor sanitation of the period resulted in contamination of water sources, a primary means of disease transmission.
The first case in Gallatin was recorded on May 29, and the patient died. During June, 68 people died in the small town, including many children."Gallatin Sexton Records for the Year 1873", Rootsweb, accessed May 13, 2008 By August, the disease had largely burned out. Overall, Sumner County had an estimated 120 deaths that year from cholera, with four-fifths of them suffered by African Americans.John M. Woodworth, "The Cholera Epidemic of 1873 in the United States", Sumner County, pp. 159-163. Reports Prepared Under the Direction of the Surgeon-General of the Army. An 1874 congressional report said that cholera had been documented in 264 towns and 18 states.
Nashville had 603 fatal cases from June 7 to 29, with 72 people dying on the day of highest fatalities.J. C. Peters, M.D., "The South Western Cholera: 1873", The Sanitarian, September 1873, National Institutes of Health exhibit, accessed May 13, 2008 In the United States, some 50,000 people died of cholera during this pandemic, including 4,000 in Saint Louis and 3,500 in New Orleans.
Gradually through the late 19th century, Gallatin and its surroundings regained some steady growth. The area was primarily agricultural until the middle of the 20th century.
Mid-20th century to present By 1970, industrialization and urbanization had resulted in half the county population being considered urban (including suburbs). In 1992, Gallatin was surpassed by Hendersonville as the largest city in the county, though the former remains the county seat. Today, it serves in part as a bedroom commuter suburb to the larger city and state capital of Nashville, some 30 miles to the southwest.
On April 7, 2006, a tornado struck the city, killing seven people and injuring 128 others. Volunteer State Community College sustained major damage. This tornado was part of a massive tornado outbreak. On December 9, 2023, a significant tornado struck the city and caused devastating destruction.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and (2.18%) is covered by water. Gallatin has variety of natural landscapes: open fields, forests, hills, and lakes. The city is located on Station Camp Creek, 3 mi (5 km) north of the Cumberland River, which was the chief route of transportation in the county's early years of settlement.
Old Hickory Lake, a man-made lake built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a result of a dam and lock on the Cumberland River, is located southwest of the city near Hendersonville.
Gallatin was on the path of the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. Totality of the eclipse, lasting 2 minutes, 38.7 seconds, occurred just before 1:30 PM local DST time (18:28:52.3 UTC)
Climate High temperatures average during the winter, in spring, in summer, and in fall. The coolest month is January, and July is the warmest. The lowest recorded temperature was in 1985. The highest recorded temperature was in 2007. The maximum average precipitation occurs in March.Weather.com. September 26, 2007. .
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Gallatin city, Tennessee – Racial and Ethnic Composition (NH = Non-Hispanic)Race / EthnicityPop 2010Pop 2020% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)22,55830,53774.50%68.73%Black or African American alone (NH)4,4176,47914.59%14.58%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)721130.24%0.25%Asian alone (NH)2247490.74%1.69%Pacific Islander alone (NH)27270.09%0.06%Some Other Race alone (NH)671970.22%0.44%Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH)4791,9231.58%4.33%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2,4344,4068.04%9.92%Total30,27844,431100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Gallatin had a population of 44,431. The median age was 37.9 years; 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 88.6 males age 18 and over.
97.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 2.1% lived in rural areas.
There were 17,791 households in Gallatin, of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.6% were married-couple households, 16.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 31.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 19,201 housing units, of which 7.3% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.9%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 31,359 70.6% Black or African American 6,583 14.8% American Indian and Alaska Native 212 0.5% Asian 753 1.7% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 30 0.1% Some other race 1,985 4.5% Two or more races 3,509 7.9% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 4,406 9.9%
2010 census At the 2010 United States census, there were 30,278 people, 11,871 households and 7,859 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,376.27 per square mile, and the housing unit density was 539.59 units per square mile. The racial makeup was 77.66% White, 14.67% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.76% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 4.38% from other races, and 2.08% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origins were 8.04% of the population.
Of the 11,871 households, 29.23% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 45.96% were married couples living together, 4.52% had a male householder with no wife present, 15.73% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.80% were not families; 27.19% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.72% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.01.