Dyersburg is a city and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States. It is located in northwest Tennessee, 79 miles (127 km) northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 17,145 at the 2010 census.

History

19th century

The lands that make up Dyer County once belonged to the Chickasaw people. The final treaty by which they relinquished all of West Tennessee was signed in 1818. Dyersburg was a steamboat town with economic growth coming up the Forked Deer River from the Mississippi River.

In 1823 the Tennessee General Assembly passed an act to establish two new counties immediately west of the Tennessee River, Dyer County being one of them. John McIver and Joel H. Dyer donated 60 acres (240,000 m²) for the new county seat, named Dyersburg, at a central location within the county known as "McIver's Bluff". In 1825, Dyer surveyed the town site into 86 lots. The first courthouse was built on the square in 1827. The current Classical Revival-style courthouse, designed by Asa Biggs in 1911, centers a downtown historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Situated as the hub of steamboat navigation on the Forked Deer River, Dyersburg grew as a river town, especially once the Grey Eagle made the first successful steamboat trip in 1836. The county's first industrial boom dates to 1879, when the steamboat Alf Stevens shipped timber from A. M. Stevens Lumber Company of Dyersburg to St. Louis, Missouri markets. The Stevens company established a large sawmill in 1880 and opened a planing mill in 1885. The Bank of Dyersburg opened in 1880, while another timber industry, Nichols & Co. Wooden Bowl Factory, began operations in 1881.

The arrival of the Newport News and Mississippi Valley Railroad in 1884 further expanded market possibilities; a branch line, the Dyersburg Northern, soon linked the county seat to Tiptonville. The new railroad links encouraged the creation of new industries and businesses. In 1884, for example, investors established the Dyersburg Oil Company, a cottonseed factory. This company remained locally important through the twentieth century.

20th century

Between 1909 and 1914, Dyersburg emerged as a regional railroad hub as it became the junction point for three different lines, led by the Illinois Central Railroad.

The Edward Moody King House is on the National Register of Historic Places.

During World War II, an emergency landing strip was built in Dyersburg. Industry continued to expand and Dyer County became a regional medical, educational, retail and distribution center. The establishment of Dyersburg State Community College in 1969 enhanced educational and cultural opportunities in the county.

In the last two decades, two major highway projects have modernized the city's transportation system: Interstate 155 links Dyersburg with Caruthersville, Missouri, via the Caruthersville Bridge, the only highway bridge over the Mississippi River between Cairo, Illinois, and Memphis. The four-lane expansion of U.S. 412 connects Dyersburg to Interstate 40 at Jackson.

On March 5, 1963, a Piper Comanche plane carrying country singers Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, pilot and Miss Cline's manager Randy Hughes stopped for gas in Dyersburg. The plane crashed just 20 minutes later in inclement weather near Camden, Tennessee.

In 1967 Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger began filming In the Heat of the Night with plans to shoot for three days in Dyersburg. The filming sequence, including the slap scene, needed a location with an actual cotton plantation. The mansion in Dyersburg was to be used as the plantation owner's home. The filmmakers bought furniture and a lawn jockey to make the home appear to be more aristocratic, along with $15,000 worth of orchids. With tension in the air, actor Poitier slept with a gun under his pillow at the Dyersburg Holiday Inn. When local hooligans created threatening circumstances in the parking lot of his motel, the film production left Dyersburg immediately and fled to Illinois to complete the filming. The movie earned Oscar nominations.

Dyersburg was mentioned in the lyrics of the song "Tennessee", written and performed by the 1990s hip hop group Arrested Development.

21st century

In May 2011, after flood waters surged into the Mississippi Delta, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shored up levees on "The Great River Road". The U.S. Coast Guard closed a section of the flooded Mississippi River to barge traffic in southeast Missouri. The President of the United States declared a major disaster for Tennessee on May 4, 2011. Dyersburg Mayor John Holden estimated a total of $140,000 in damages occurring within Dyersburg. The worst flooding in Dyer County occurred south of Dyersburg.

In 2012 FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) awarded over 2 million dollars for the construction of area safe rooms. The safe rooms in Dyersburg are located beside Dyersburg High School and across from Fire Station 1 in Downtown.

Under the new ownership of CEO A. G. Helton, the Dyersburg Mall began renovations in January 2013.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam presented a $589,000 workforce development grant to Dyersburg State Community College in September 2013 to establish two advanced manufacturing labs for 2013-2014 including the facility in Covington, Tennessee.

The 2011 McIver's Grant Public Library project was launched, and in 2011 the city of Dyersburg and the members of the Library Board and Foundation Board celebrated the ribbon cutting for the new facility.

Dyersburg residents welcomed the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in 2011. The unofficial groundbreaking of Love's Travel Stop took place on Highway 76 in 2015. In 2015, ERMCO's proposed solar collection system was met with opposition.

New renovations of Dyersburg High School were completed and the on-campus tornado shelter, which accommodates 1,300 people, has been designed to sustain an F2 tornado. Dyersburg has 19 outdoor emergency sirens.

The Tennessee Aviation Association, a division of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, recognized the Dyersburg Regional Airport with the 2015 Award of Excellence for most improved airport.

The newly completed Port of Cates Landing, located on the Mississippi River north of Tiptonville in Lake County, is the nation's newest multimodal inland port. The port, engineered by Forcum-Lannom of Dyersburg, will accommodate year-round modern barge traffic. The Northwest Tennessee Regional Port Authority received $13 million from the US Department of Transportation.

The city of Dyersburg created a Non-Emergency 311 Call Center to assist residents with local government service requests and general information.

Geography

Dyersburg is located in central Dyer County at 36°2′22″N 89°22′58″W / 36.03944°N 89.38278°W / 36.03944; -89.38278 (36.039440, -89.382766). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.5 square miles (45.2 km²), of which 17.3 square miles (44.9 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²), or 0.66%, is water.

The city's proximity to the New Madrid Seismic Zone makes it a place at risk for future earthquakes. The USGS database shows that there is an 18.28% chance of a major earthquake within 31 miles (50 km) of Dyersburg within the next 50 years. The largest earthquake within 30 miles (48 km) of Dyersburg was a 4.6-magnitude event in 1989.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	683	—
1880	1,010	47.9%
1890	2,009	98.9%
1900	3,647	81.5%
1910	4,149	13.8%
1920	6,444	55.3%
1930	8,733	35.5%
1940	10,034	14.9%
1950	10,885	8.5%
1960	12,499	14.8%
1970	14,523	16.2%
1980	15,856	9.2%
1990	16,317	2.9%
2000	17,452	7.0%
2010	17,145	−1.8%
2019 (est.)	16,314	−4.8%

2020 census

Dyersburg racial composition
Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	10,106	62.49%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	4,337	26.82%
Native American	18	0.11%
Asian	169	1.05%
Pacific Islander	7	0.04%
Other/Mixed	809	5.0%
Hispanic or Latino	725	4.48%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 16,164 people, 6,865 households, and 4,500 families residing in the city.

Area libraries and museums

McIver's Grant Public Library, Dyersburg - 35,002 volumes
Newbern Library, Newbern - 23,905 volumes
Hamilton Parks Public Library, Trimble - 10,366 volumes
Dyer County Museum, Dyersburg
Veterans' Museum, Dyersburg
Army Air Base Memorial

Area recreation

Bruce Recreation Center
Future City Recreation Center
Kayaking and canoeing on the Forked Deer River; Forked Deer River Park in development
Youth Sports Program - Dyersburg Parks and Recreation Department - Basketball, Soccer, Softball Dyersburg Activity Center
Reelfoot Lake State Park is located 28 miles (45 km) to the north in Lake and Obion counties.

Points of interest

Annual Dyer County Fair - September 2015 - 68th year
Sorghum Valley Christmas - Antique Village - December
Historic Courthouse Square - 45 buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places
Mainstream Farmers Market - Fresh Produce - Live music
General Strahl's Cannon and Gravesite - Old City Cemetery - East Court Street and Liberty Avenue
Soldier in Grey - Historic Courthouse Square - Dedicated April 6, 1905 on the 43 anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh
Dr. Walter E. David Wildlife Museum - Dyersburg State Community College
Dyersburg Municipal Golf Course (City Golf Course - Walter Poston Memorial) - Leader Board - Picnic tables - Cooker access
Farms Golf Club - 18 holes - 2 practice putting greens - full pro shop - swimming pool
Oakview Links Golf Course - 9 hole course - City of Newbern
Forked Deer River Trail - located behind the Farmers Market - Dyersburg
Great River Road - Western Border following the Mississippi River - National Scenic Byway 185.5 mile corridor - Tiptonville, TN

City parks and activity centers

Okeena Park - Pavilion Kiwanis Park
Evansville Park Dyersburg Park Dyersburg Activity Center Bruce Recreation Center
Future City Recreation Center Scott Park
YMCA - Youth Sports

Music

Dyersburg Community Orchestra

Infrastructure

Transportation

Dyersburg Regional Airport, KDYR, DYR by the FAA - 275 Acres
Newbern–Dyersburg station, Amtrak station

Hospital

West Tennessee Healthcare Dyersburg Hospital is a Joint Commission accredited hospital. The medical center has 225 beds. Originally built as Parkview Hospital in 1956, the hospital has changed stewardship multiple times since its inception.

Sports

From 1923 to 1925, Dyersburg was home to a Minor League Baseball team known as the Dyersburg Forked Deers (1923–1924) and Dyersburg Deers (1925). They won the Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League championship in 1923 and 1924.

Education

Dyersburg State Community College - established 1969.

Notable people

John Calvin Fiser (1838-1876) was an American merchant and soldier (Colonel)
Robert Fuller (1947–present), professional wrestler, better known as a manager in WCW and WWF
James A. Gardner (First Lieutenant), recipient of the Medal of Honor, 1966
George "Two Ton" Harris (1927-2002) (wrestler), known as "Baby Blimp", professional wrestler, National Wrestling Alliance
Emmett Kelly, Jr. (1923-2006), "The World's Most Famous Clown" better known as "Weary Willie"
Michael Swift (1974–present) (National Football League) 1997 San Diego Chargers, 1998-1999 Carolina Panthers, 2000 Jacksonville Jaguars
Henderson Edward Wright (1919-1995), Major League Baseball pitcher, Boston Braves and Philadelphia Athletics - 1945–48, 1952

Images for kids

Map of Dyer County, Tennessee (1836)

Dyersburg, Tennessee facts for kids

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