Spencer, Tennessee
| Spencer, Tennessee | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
Van Buren County Courthouse in Spencer
|
|
 Location of Spencer, Tennessee |
|
| Coordinates: 35°44′37″N 85°27′30″W / 35.74361°N 85.45833°WCoordinates: 35°44′37″N 85°27′30″W / 35.74361°N 85.45833°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Van Buren |
| Founded | 1850 |
| Incorporated | 1909 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 6.8 sq mi (17.7 km2) |
| • Land | 6.8 sq mi (17.7 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,798 ft (548 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,601 |
| • Density | 250.9/sq mi (96.9/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 38585 |
| Area code(s) | 931 |
| FIPS code | 47-70240 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1270985 |
Spencer is a town in Van Buren County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,601 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Van Buren County.
Spencer is named after Thomas Sharp Spencer (d. 1794), a long hunter who passed through the Van Buren County area in the mid-18th century. The town was established in 1850 and incorporated in 1909.
Burritt College was located in Spencer from 1848 until its closure in 1939. In July 1946, James Monroe Smith, former president of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, accepted the position as head of academic studies at Burritt Preparatory School for Boys, a down-graded version of Burritt College.
Spencer is located at 35°44′37″N 85°27′30″W / 35.74361°N 85.45833°W (35.743740, -85.458408). The town is situated at the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau, just above the Caney Fork valley. The river forms Van Buren's boundary with White County several miles north of Spencer.
Spencer is topographically isolated by the Cumberland Plateau's escarpment to the north and west, the Cane Creek Valley to the east, and the Dry Fork Gulf to the south. Cane Creek, along with its tributary, Dry Fork, slices a narrow valley as it spills down northward toward its confluence with the Caney Fork, effectively dividing the Spencer area from the rest of the plateau. Cane Creek's upper watershed, known for its scenic waterfalls and geological formations, comprises the bulk of Fall Creek Falls State Park.
...
Wikipedia