Brentwood, Tennessee

Episode 90 / 18 October 2018 / 158 min / full

A Closet Full Of Murder

"James says this is Brentwood, Tennessee, about 20 minutes outside Nashville, in Williamson County, zip code 37024, area code 615." about 0:08:19

The case: Murder of Jeffrey Freeman (April 10th to 11th, 2005). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2018

Population

40,000

Median age

41

Median household income

$138,395

Median home value

$621,000

Two-bedroom rent

$2,520

Cost of living

165

Religious

65%

Property crime

▼ less than half of normal

Violent crime

▼ about half the national average

Teen crime rate

▼ one third of normal

History, in brief

• The first people in the area were Native Americans, called the Mountain Indians or Stonebox Indians, who had disappeared from the area by 1300. about 0:10:19
• The first settlers were planters and farmers who came in the late 1700s, on land granted to Revolutionary War soldiers by the state of North Carolina. about 0:10:46
• Cotton was a big crop and there were many plantations; the town grew quickly in the 1800s and by the Civil War it was one of the wealthiest areas in the state. about 0:11:06
• During the Civil War the plantation houses were used to treat soldiers, but by the end of the war most had been destroyed and there was little left in the way of crops or farm animals. about 0:12:01
• On March 25th, 1863, Confederate cavalry under General Nathan Bedford Forrest raided the Union-held area, cut telegraph wires and destroyed artillery; the Union surrendered Brentwood the next day, with 305 Union casualties and six Confederate. about 0:13:12
• Among the first buildings were a general store, a grist mill, a post office and many Methodist churches. about 0:14:24
• After the Civil War the large properties were cut up into smaller farms and tobacco became the main crop. about 0:15:12
• The population stayed fairly stable through the 1900s, with a prosperous little boom in the 1920s; in 1960 the population was 1,065. about 0:15:32
• In the late 1960s housing boomed after an interstate was built giving a 20-minute drive to Nashville; the town incorporated in 1969. about 0:15:47
• The population went from 3,500 in 1970 to 9,400 in 1980, 16,400 in 1990, 23,500 in 2000 and about 29,000 in 2005. about 0:16:08
• On May 1st and 2nd, 2010, the city received 14 to 17 inches of rain in less than 30 hours, the worst natural disaster in its history, damaging almost 300 homes plus roads and bridges. about 0:17:13
• Brentwood takes part in the Sister Cities programme and is twinned with Brentwood in Essex, England. about 0:18:24
• Money Magazine named Brentwood the twenty-first best place to live in 2017. about 0:21:02
• The town motto is Latin, given as 'Ardens fide', meaning burning faith; the town covers 34.7 square miles, zip code 37024, area code 615. about 0:08:49

The reviews read out

Open the episode file