Gainesboro, Tennessee

Episode 85 / 13 September 2018 / 146 min / full

Lust, Unexplained Wounds & Weak Excuses

"In the northern part of Tennessee, in Jackson County, about an hour and a half from Nashville." about 0:08:19

The case: Murder of Ramona Long (August 1996). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2018

Population

955

Median age

37.2

Median household income

$22,750

Median home value

$79,200

Cost of living

75

Religious

30%

Property crime

▲ about 10 to 15% higher

Violent crime

▲ just above average

History, in brief

• Long hunters came to the area in the 1770s, drawn by natural salt licks that attracted game. about 0:11:38
• A long hunter was an explorer and hunter who could be away on an expedition for as long as six months at a time. about 0:11:44
• Avery's Trace was the principal road used by settlers travelling from Knoxville to the Nashville area in the late 1700s and early 1800s. about 0:14:08
• Jackson County is named for Andrew Jackson and was established by the Tennessee legislature in November 1801. about 0:14:32
• It is the second oldest of the 23 Jackson Counties in the United States. about 0:14:43
• The first man hanged in Jackson County was a black man, in 1812. about 0:16:10
• The last man hanged in Jackson County was in 1936, also a black man. about 0:17:06
• Gainesboro was designated the permanent county seat in 1817 and incorporated in 1820. about 0:17:29
• The land for the town was donated by a man named David Cox. about 0:17:41
• The town was originally spelled with a full borough and was later shortened. about 0:17:41
• It was named after General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, who fought with Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. about 0:18:06
• John Clemens, the father of Mark Twain, kept the first hotel in Gainesboro, near the jail on the north side of town. about 0:18:22
• The courthouse burned in the night on August 14, 1870, and all the county records were lost except those of the Chancery court. about 0:19:34
• Timber and farming were the primary occupations around Gainesboro. about 0:19:06
• In 1940, of 194,000 acres listed in the county, more than 172,000 were devoted to farming. about 0:20:38

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