Rutherford County, Tennessee
| Rutherford County, Tennessee | ||
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Rutherford County Courthouse, Murfreesboro
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 Location in the U.S. state of Tennessee |
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 Tennessee's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | October 25, 1803 | |
| Named for | Griffith Rutherford | |
| Seat | Murfreesboro | |
| Largest city | Murfreesboro | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 624 sq mi (1,616 km2) | |
| • Land | 619 sq mi (1,603 km2) | |
| • Water | 4.7 sq mi (12 km2), 0.8% | |
| Population (est.) | ||
| • (2015) | 298,612 | |
| • Density | 424/sq mi (164/km²) | |
| Congressional district | 4th | |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 | |
| Website | www |
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Rutherford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 262,604 and 288,906 in 2014, making it the fifth-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Murfreesboro, which is also the geographic center of Tennessee. As of 2010, it is the center of population of Tennessee.
Rutherford County is included in the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area. Since the turn of the 21st century, it has been the destination of numerous immigrants, who have settled in the area, including many from Somalia and Kurds from Iraq. The proportion of ethnic minorities has risen slowly within the county.
Rutherford County was formed in 1803 from parts of Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties, and named in honor of Griffith Rutherford (1721–1805). Rutherford was a North Carolina colonial legislator and an American Revolutionary War general, who settled in Middle Tennessee after the Revolution. He was appointed President of the Council of the Southwest Territory (the upper chamber of the territorial legislature) in 1794.
Rutherford County strongly supported the Confederacy during the Civil War, having voted 2,392 to 73 in favor of Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession on June 8, 1861. Rutherford County's central location and proximity to Nashville during the Civil War made it a contested area. The county was home to one of the bloodiest battles of the war, the Battle of Stones River, which was fought between December 31, 1861, and January 2, 1862. On July 13, 1862, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest conducted a series of operations in the county known as Forrest's Raid. The raid successfully led to the surrender of Union forces occupying the area. Soon after, Union troops retook the region and occupied it until the end of the war.
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