Hickory Withe, Tennessee
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Hickory Withe is a town located in Fayette County, Tennessee. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 2,574.
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Geography
Hickory Withe is located at 35°13'25" North, 89°34'55" West (35.223636, -89.581927)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 73.6 km² (28.4 mi²). 73.3 km² (28.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.39% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 2,574 people, 980 households, and 803 families residing in the town. The population density is 35.1/km² (90.9/mi²). There are 1,016 housing units at an average density of 13.9/km² (35.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 82.32% White, 16.24% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.04% from other races, and 1.09% from two or more races. 1.24% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 980 households out of which 26.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.1% are married couples living together, 6.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 18.0% are non-families. 14.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 4.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.63 and the average family size is 2.90.
In the town the population is spread out with 20.5% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 33.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 43 years. For every 100 females there are 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 95.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $57,292, and the median income for a family is $62,857. Males have a median income of $42,024 versus $28,550 for females. The per capita income for the town is $26,368. 4.2% of the population and 2.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.0% of those under the age of 18 and 12.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
History
The incorporation of Hickory Withe led to a reform of Tennessee laws regarding incorporation. In the mid-1990s supporters of the idea of incorporating Hickory Withe came to Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee John S. Wilder, who is from nearby Braden and has represented the area in the Tennessee State Senate since 1966, with the idea of sponsoring a bill which would allow Hickory Withe to incorporate, something which could not be accomplished under the then-existing law. Wilder learned that he could not introduce an act allowing only for the incorporation of Hickory Withe as this would be rejected by the courts as unconstitutional, so it was necessary for any act to help Hickory Withe to incorporate to be worded in a broad enough fashion to allow any similar area in Tennessee which also desired to incorporate to do so as well. The eventual bill which passed was drawn in such a way as to allow almost any previously-unincorporated area to incorporate, and several attempted to do so, including, famously, an apartment building in East Tennessee. The resulting legislation became known, somewhat derisively, as the "Tiny Towns Bill". Most of the towns which were set up, or were attempted to be set up under the act, seemed primarily to be efforts to prevent areas from being annexed by larger jurisdictions which charged property tax. Corrective legislation enacted since has required any new town being set up to have a property tax rate set as a condition of its incorporation (and that rate cannot be "zero"). Towns set up under the "Tiny Town" law, like Hickory Withe, were not automatically dissolved with the act's repeal, although some have susbsquently taken this step.
Hickory Withe, with a fairly large area relative to its population and an affluent tax base which can provide considerable revenue to the town at a still-low rate, seems unlikely to do so.