Rutherford County, Tennessee

R utherford County, population 360,000, is located in the geographic center of the State of Tennessee. It was formed in 1803, and named in honor of Griffith Rutherford, a North Carolina colonial legislator and American Revolutionary War general, who settled in Middle Tennessee after the Revolution. During the Civil War, the county’s location between Nashville and Chattanooga made it a hotly contested area; in fact, it was the site of one of the war’s bloodiest conflicts, the Battle of Stones River. Originally, an agricultural region, today, Rutherford County hosts a diverse array of manufacturing enterprises, with a large number of automobile plants dotting the region. Nissan, alone, has over 8,000 employees; Bridgestone/Firestone has 1,000; plus there are many other smaller companies that supply the auto industry. And Bill Ketron, the Mayor of Rutherford County, would like to see the auto industry expand even more. “We have a General Motors plant 45 minutes from here down in Springhill, Tennessee, AT A GLANCE RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TENNESSEE WHAT: A county of 360,000 WHERE: The geographic center of Tennessee WEBSITE: www.rutherfordcountytn.gov