The Henderson | Chester County Chamber of Commerce serves all of Chester County, including the following communities:
INCORPORATED COMMUNITIES
ENVILLE
Mayor: Patrick Herndon
City Hall
PO Box 177, Enville, TN 38332-0177
Phone: 731-688-5511
City meetings at 7 P.M. on 3rd Tuesday of each month at Town Hall
Enville, located in the southeastern part of the county, was once called Wild Goose because of the numbers of wild geese the mill pond attracted. At first the town was just a small settlement of a few log cabins. In the 1870’s three small stores, one containing a post office, opened on the bank of the old mill. A few years later they were moved to higher ground and there they stand today. Enville was once home to seven stores, two hotels, three doctors, a livery stable, cotton gin, and a blacksmith shop.
MILLEDGEVILLE
Mayor: Danny Kennedy
City Hall
202 Ellis Road, Milledgeville, TN 38359
731-687-3884
City meetings at 7 P.M. on 2nd Monday of each month at Town Hall, and at 8 P.M. during daylight savings time.
SILERTON
Mayor: Stan Rush
City Hall
30410 Tenn. 125 N. Silerton, TN 38377
731-658-3748
City Meetings at 7 P.M. on 4th Monday of each month at Town Hall.
UNINCORPORATED COMMUNITIES
JACK'S CREEK
Jack's Creek is located in the eastern portion of the county and was settled in the 1820's. No one knows for sure how it got its name, but legend says that early settlers from North Carolina had a little boy with the name of Jack, who went fishing and fell in the creek and drowned or was captured by the Indians. Either way, he was never seen again and the community received its name. Construction began on the Jack's Creek Intermediate Landing Field in 1937. The airport was on the flight line from Nashville to Memphis and was designated as an emergency landing field. The field was used in W.W.II for practice by the US Army Air Force cadets. It was the 2nd largest landing field in the US. It had two runways, a beacon light and a radio control tower. An airshow was held at the Jack's Creek Airport on August 13, 1939. In the 1930s, the village of Jack's Creek had 7 general stores, a cotton gin, a bank, post office, 2 barber shops, 2 blacksmith shops, 2 hamburger joints, 2 schools and 3 churches.
DEANBURG
Also known as Pulite, Deanburg is located in the extreme western section of Chester County. It was settled in the 1830s or 40s and became home to a general merchandise store, gristmill, sawmill, school, and a cotton gin. The first school was a two-story frame building with the Woodsmen of the World occupying the second story. G.M.&N. Railroad Company built a railroad through the settlement in 1918/1919 and a depot was built the following year. On March 11, 1923, a cyclone blew through and totally destroyed the community. Deanburg would never be the same. It is a live and thriving community today with many beautiful home sites added yearly.
SWEET LIPS
Sweet Lips was once a thriving community, complete with a post office, school, blacksmith shop, grist mill, cotton gin, and a general store that still serves the community. Legends are told as to how Sweet Lips got its name. The most remembered is that of a tired and thirsty traveler who came through the area over 100 years ago, and stopped at the spring for a cool drink of water. As he stooped down and scooped up a drink of water he remarked, “Oh, that’s so sweet to my lips” and thus the community received its name.
MONTEZUMA
In about 1810 or 1812, Josiah Wamble built a store on the land upon which Montezuma is now built. For a number of years, it was called “Wambles Store”. By 1820, the settlers were so many that a town was laid out and given the name Montezuma after a Mexican Indian chief. The name means “Bright Stream at the Foot of The Mountain.” In 1874, The Montezuma Male and Female Academy was built, and in 1880 the population was 148. Montezuma was the second choice for the county seat and was once home to two saloons, four general merchandise shops, a drug store with two physicians, a barber shop, two blacksmith shops, cotton gin, telephone exchange, grade school, and a post office.
WOODVILLE
Woodville occupies the southwestern extremity of Chester County. The elementary school building was built just after the Civil War. During the Civil War, families in the area were divided, some sympathizing with the northern cause and some fighting with the Confederacy.
MASSEYVILLE
Masseyville is located in the southwestern portion of Chester County, and was named after Bill Massey, one of its early settlers. The community was settled in 1879, and at one time had a post office, general store, drug store, gin, sawmill, and a gristmill.
GLENDALE
Glendale is located in the northeast part of the county. Several schools, McCall’s, Frys Point, and Peddy School once dotted the countryside. Churches in the area include Oak Grove, Frys Point, Clark’s Creek and Holly Springs. The area is also home to the Glendale Community Center.
MIFFLIN
Mifflin is located in the northeastern part of the county, and was settled in 1821 by Col. John Purdy, who was a surveyor and had laid the town out. It is said he named the settlement after his native town in Pennsylvania. James Glass taught the first school in 1828. Several businesses were located with wooden sidewalks in the town. Until after the Civil War, Mifflin was the largest town in the present-day Chester County. One of the oldest homes in the county, The Tucker family home, is located in the area and was built in the early 1840s. In 1861, a group of Union soldiers camped just below the house.
HICKORY CORNER
Hickory Corner is located in the southwestern portion of the county. The first school house was built in 1914, and was named after the four large hickory trees on each corner of the property and thus the community was named. Hickory Corner School prided itself on its outstanding basketball teams.
NEW FRIENDSHIP
New Friendship is located in the northeastern part of the county between Henderson and Mifflin. In 1928, Friendship Baptist Church donated land to be used for a new school. It was suggested the new building be called “New Friendship”, a name quickly adopted for the community. Early businesses included grist mills, cotton gins, saw mills, dairies, and country stores, where a game of checkers and neighbors conversing were common. Richard Edward “Eddy” Arnold, born May 15, 1918, once lived in the “New” Friendship Community and attended County Line School.