HICKMAN COUNTY

County Seat: Centerville
When most people think of a place named for chewing gum millionaire William Wrigley, most think of Wrigley Field in Chicago. But believe it or not there is a small community in Hickman County also named for him.

In the 1920s, Wrigley was one of the main investors in the Tennessee Products Corp., which owned and operated coal, iron and phosphate mines and factories in Chattanooga, Rockwood, Whitwell, Rockdale and other places. Wrigley, in Hickman County, was one of the Tennessee Products Corp.'s "company towns" -- named for the same man people now associate with chewing gum and the Chicago Cubs. The main thing produced at the Tennessee Products Corp.'s Wrigley operation was charcoal, to be used by iron manufacturers.

Sarah Cannon is probably the most famous person to ever come from Hickman County, but most people knew her by her stage name, and that was Minnie Pearl. Cannon was from a good family and went to Ward-Belmont College in Nashville, which was a finishing school for young ladies. But she had a bubbly personality and a great sense of humor, and soon she became an actress. The Minnie Pearl character became a regular on the Grand Ole Opry starting in 1940. Today the very mention of the word, "HOW-DEE!" brings to mind the woman from Hickman County.

And at the eastern edge of Hickman County, a short stroll from the Natchez Trace Parkway, you will find one of the least publicized waterfalls in the state -- Jackson Falls.

Here is a photograph of the Hickman County Courthouse