Bell Town (also known as Belltown) is an unincorporated rural community located in southern Cheatham County, Tennessee, United States.
Bell Town, Tennessee | |
|---|---|
  Bell Town, Tennessee  Bell Town, Tennessee | |
| Coordinates: 36°06′46″N 87°09′29″W / 36.11278°N 87.15806°W[1] | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Cheatham |
| Elevation | 758 ft (231 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 37082 |
| Area code | 615 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1276948 [1] |
History
editBell Town has traditionally been an African American community. Folk history has it that the traditional residents are descendants of the slaves of Middle Tennessee ironmaster Montgomery Bell;[2] as Bell was widely reputed to have had several slave mistresses, many inhabitants claim descent from Bell via these women. A primary school was located here until it was closed by racial integration in the 1960s; the renovated building later served as an office for a religious ministry and as a restaurant before being demolished in the late 2010s.
In the last two decades there has been considerable growth in the area, including, as racial attitudes have softened, a considerable influx of whites.
Apparently, Bell Town has never had a United States Post Office; the community's address is Kingston Springs, Tennessee. As neither Kingston Springs nor the nearby community of White Bluff have traditionally had an appreciable black population, Bell Town has served the purpose of providing these two towns with a black-oriented residential area, a purpose the community still functions in to some degree.
As Bell Town is neither an incorporated town nor a census-designated place, any estimate of its population is of necessarily limited accuracy due to the absence of any well-defined boundaries, but is generally regarded to be less than 200 persons.
Geography
editBell Town is located along U.S. Highway 70.[3]
Cemetery
editThe Bell Town Cemetery[4] is a historic cemetery that has been used by African Americans for generations.[5] In 2017, the cemetery was an area of conflict when neighboring white landowners denied family members of the buried persons access to the graves.[5][2]
References
edit- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bell Town, Tennessee
- ^ a b Davis, Kimberly (November 18, 2017). "Bell Town Cemetery Under Investigation". WTVF. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- ^ Cheatham County General Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Tennessee Department of Transportation. 2000. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bell Town, Tennessee
- ^ a b Bliss, Jessica (August 29, 2017). "Tensions flare between descendants, landowners over access to family cemetery". The Tennessean. Retrieved June 19, 2019.