This partial list of city nicknames in Tennessee compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities and towns in Tennessee are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to municipal governments, local people, outsiders or their tourism boards or chambers of commerce. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity. Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth" are also believed to have economic value. Their economic value is difficult to measure, but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.Alfredo Andia, Branding the Generic City :) , MU.DOT magazine, September 10, 2007

Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency. Adamsville – The Biggest Little Town in TennesseeCity of Adamsville website, accessed August 12, 2009 Athens – The Friendly CityAthens, Tennessee official website, accessed March 18, 2008 Bristol – The Birthplace of Country Music (shares this nickname with Bristol, Virginia)Birthplace of Country Music Alliance website, accessed March 18, 2008 Chattanooga Dynamo of DixieTagline Guru City Branding Survey, Tagline Guru website, accessed Aug 18, 2009 The Scenic CityChattanooga Info..., University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Department of Psychology website, accessed January 5, 2008. "Chattanooga has for a long time been considered The Gateway to the South. It is at the crossroads of the railroads, major highways, and the Tennessee River. In recent years it has been completely reborn in a transformation that has also earned it the nickname The Smartest City. You can add those great nicknames to its two existing ones The Scenic City and The City of Lights." City of Lights Gateway to the South Clarksville Gateway to the New SouthClarksville, Tennessee: Gateway to the New South , Fort Campbell website, accessed October 11, 2008 The Queen City or Queen of the CumberlandQueen City Lodge #761 - Free & Accepted Masons, accessed October 11, 2008 Tennessee's Top Spot (introduced as a new city "brand" in April 2008)Clarksville unveils new "Brand" as "Tennessee’s Top Spot!", Turner McCullough Jr., Clarksville Online, April 12, 2008 Cleveland- The City with Spirit Columbia – Mule Capital of the WorldColumbia, Tennessee, Mule Capital of the World, Muletown - Home of Mule Day (website)Columbia, Tennessee - Mule Capital of the World, Roadside America website (accessed January 6, 2008) Elizabethton – City of PowerCity of Elizabethton website (accessed May 20, 2008)' Gleason - Tater Town Greeneville – Home of President Andrew JohnsonListed on welcome signs at the entrances to the town Jackson - Hub City Johnson City – Little Chicago of the SouthRefers to the city's Prohibition-era reputation as a center for trade in illegal alcoholic beverages ("Little Chicago" on Johnson's Depot website, accessed March 31, 2009). Jonesborough – Tennessee's Oldest TownTown of Jonesborough website (accessed January 24, 2008) Kenton – Home of the White Squirrels.White Squirrel Wars, Roadside America, accessed April 21, 2007. "Olney, IL; Marionville, MO; Kenton, TN; Brevard, NC; Exeter, ON. Not one, but five towns use albino squirrels as their claims to fame, and none is particularly happy about the others." Kingsport – The Model CityThe Spirit Of Kingsport, City of Kingsport website (accessed May 20, 2008) Knoxville The Marble CityKnoxville area information , Mast General Store website, accessed January 5, 2008. "In the 1800s and early 1900s, the city was very important as a manufacturing and warehouse district. Knoxville was known as 'The Marble City' because of the famous pink marble supplied by quarries surrounding the city." Underwear Capital of the WorldVideo: A Monument to underwear, Knoxville News Sentinel website, accessed 20 January 2010. Lebanon – Appalachian Square Dance Capital of the WorldClaims to Fame - Favorites , Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007. Lenoir City – Lakeway to the SmokiesThe Internet Business Directory for Lenoir City McMinnville – Nursery Capital of the WorldCity of McMinnville website, accessed January 5, 2008. Memphis Barbecued Pork Capital of the World Home of the Blues. Bluff CityQueen City, Time (magazine), January 30, 1928, accessed April 13, 2007. Birthplace of Rock 'n RollMEMPHIS TO LEAD NATIONAL CELEBRATION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF ROCK 'n' ROLL, press release dated November 5, 2003, accessed April 22, 2007. " Memphis is known worldwide as the "Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll" – with close to 20 percent of the earliest inductees in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame having come from within a 100-mile radius of Memphis." Murfreesboro The Bucket City The Boro Geographic Center of TN Center of the Universe Murf-Terf Nashville Little Kurdistan The Athens of the SouthNashville: The Athens of the South , About.com, accessed April 22, 2007. "By the 1850s, Nashville had already earned the nickname of the "Athens of the South" by having established numerous higher education institutions as well as being the first Southern City to establish a public school system." City of Rocks (reported in the 1880s)Barry Popik, Smoky City, barrypopik.com website, March 27, 2005 Minneapolis of the South (historical)Carroll Van West (1994), Tennessee's Historic Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide, University of Tennessee Press. Page 85. Music CityHow Nashville Became Music City, U.S.A.: 50 Years of Music Row, accessed April 22, 2007. The Protestant Vatican Smashville Cashville Oak Ridge America's Secret City The Atomic CityAt Work in the Atomic City: A Labor and Social History of Oak Ridge, Tennessee , accessed April 22, 2007. Shelbyville Pencil CityClaims to Fame - Products , Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.City of Shelbyville official website, accessed January 5, 2008. "We are known as the Walking Horse Capital of the World, and the Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse is crowned at our TWH National Celebration annually. Shelbyville is known as The Pencil City because of its historical importance to pencil manufacturing, although today more "writing instruments" than pencils are produced here." Walking Horse Capital of the World Wartrace – Cradle of the Tennessee Walking Horse.Claims to Fame - Animals , Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.

See also List of city nicknames in the United States List of municipalities in Tennessee

References