Marion County Courthouse in Jasper
|Nickname(s): "Gateway to the beautiful Sequatchie Valley"|
|Motto: "The friendly city on the move!"|
|Named for||William Jasper|
|• Land||9.0 sq mi (23 km2)|
|• Water||0.1 sq mi (0.3 km2)|
|Elevation||825 ft (251 m)|
|• Density||355.7/sq mi (137.3/km2)|
|Time zone||Central (CST) (UTC-6)|
|• Summer (DST)||CDT (UTC-5)|
|GNIS feature ID||1289309|
Jasper is a town in Marion County, Tennessee formed from Cherokee land of Elizabeth aka "Betsy" Pack, [1770-1851], daughter of Chief John Lowery. The population was 3,279 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Marion County.
Jasper was formed from land leased for $1 from Cherokee Indian legend Elizabeth aka "Betsy" Pack, daughter of Chief John Lowery and beloved Cherokee Woman Nannie Watts. Her descendants and friends of the family gather on a semi-annual basis to place flowers at the courthouse marker. The most recent event was April 16, 2011.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 9.2 square miles (24 km2), of which 9.0 square miles (23 km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (1.42%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,214 people, 1,299 households, and 928 families residing in the town. The population density was 355.7 people per square mile (137.3/km²). There were 1,393 housing units at an average density of 154.2 per square mile (59.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 90.39% White, 7.34% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.21% of the population.
There were 1,299 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.5% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $35,926, and the median income for a family was $42,467. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,311. About 11.4% of families and 15.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.8% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.
- Bob Long, baseball player.
- Jasper city website. Retrieved: 16 January 2013.
- "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- Larry L. Miller (2001), Tennessee place-names, Indiana University Press. Page 108.
- "Census of Population and Housing: Decennial Censuses". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
- "Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Resident Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012". Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
- FAA Airport Master Record for APT ( PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 11 February 2010.