DICKSON COUNTY

The Dickson County Courthouse

County Seat: Charlotte
There's a lot of interesting history in Dickson County. This is one of many counties where the county seat was bypassed by the railroad, which is why county seat Charlotte is much smaller than Dickson, the largest town in the county. Dickson County is famous as the home of the late governor Frank Clement. It is known to be one of the earliest iron manufacturing areas of Tennessee.


But the most unusual thing that has ever happened in Dickson County, or so it seems, is that a commune was started here in 1894. (A commune is a place where families live together and share their money and property.) It was called the Ruskin Cooperative Association, and it was started by a socialist author from Indiana named Julius Wayland. Wayland dreamed of a utopia with good schools, libraries, gymnasiums, lecture halls and such. Several hundred people moved there and gave it a try, but the dream didn’t work as well as hoped. The commune left Tennessee in 1899 and was dissolved two years later.


A scene from Renaissance Camp
PHOTO: Renaissance Center
By the way, the former site of the Ruskin Cooperative Association is now the home of the Renaissance Camp, a great place for boys and girls between 6 and 14 years of age. Click here for more information.

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