Central Tennessee
Central Tennessee, more often called Middle Tennessee, is a region of Tennessee. Besides the obvious destinations like Nashville, there are some lesser known ones, like Carthage, for instance, the hometown of former Vice-President Al Gore.| Tap on a place to explore it |
Essential Destinations
Top destinations include Nashville and Clarksville.
Nashville
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Nashville is the capital of the American state of Tennessee. With 716,000 residents in 2022, it is the state's largest city. Nashville is sometimes called the "Country Music Capital of the World" or more often "Music City, USA"; however, Nashville has done much to escape its country music image and become a regional center of culture and commerce.
Clarksville
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Clarksville is the county seat of Montgomery County, in Central Tennessee. Founded in 1784, Clarksville is one of the south's most historic cities. Today, visitors can experience that history through memorable attractions, unique historic architecture and a variety of annual festivals and events.
Murfreesboro
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Murfreesboro is a city in the Nashville metropolitan area of Middle Tennessee. It is the largest suburb of Nashville and the sixth largest city in Tennessee.
Destinations to Discover
Explore places such as Franklin and Hendersonville.
Franklin
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Franklin is a city of 81,000 people in Tennessee, just a few miles south of Nashville. There are two main areas of interest. One is the Cool Springs area, which is identified by its corporate and retail growth surrounding one of the largest malls in the Southeast, the CoolSprings Galleria.
Hendersonville
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Hendersonville is a city in Sumner County of the American state of Tennessee. It is a well-known suburb of Nashville, Tennessee, and has been the home of many country music stars, including Conway Twitty, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash.
Lebanon
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Lebanon is a city in and the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately 25 miles east of downtown Nashville.
Columbia
Columbia is the county seat of Maury County in Central Tennessee, and is 50 miles south of Nashville. It is home to an estimated 38,224 people and hosts a mule day festival the first weekend of April every year.
Brentwood
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Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census. It is a suburb of Nashville and included in the Nashville metropolitan area.
Tullahoma
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Tullahoma is a city in Coffee and Franklin counties in southern Middle Tennessee, United States. The population was 20,339 at the 2020 census. In 2019, the population was estimated to be 19,555.
Lynchburg
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Lynchburg is a small community in Tennessee. It is contained within Moore County, with which it forms a consolidated government.
Cookeville
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Cookeville is a small city in north central Tennessee and home of Tennessee Tech University. Cookeville is the largest city in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and the county seat of Coffee County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 12,213 at the 2020 census. Manchester is part of the Tullahoma micropolitan area.
Lewisburg
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Lewisburg is a beautiful town in southern Central Tennessee. Once the pencil capital of the world, Lewisburg still boasts a strong industrial environment and is home to the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association World Headquarters.
Lawrenceburg
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Lawrenceburg is a city in and the county seat of Lawrence County, Tennessee, United States. The largest city on the state's southern border, it lies on the banks of Shoal Creek.
Smyrna
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Smyrna is a town in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. Smyrna's population was 53,070 at the 2020 census, making it the largest town in Tennessee by population in that census. Smyrna is part of the Nashville metropolitan area.
Dover
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Dover is a city in and the county seat of Stewart County, Tennessee, 67 miles west-northwest of Nashville on the Cumberland River. Fort Donelson National Cemetery is in Dover.
Winchester
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Winchester is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Winchester micropolitan area. The population of Winchester as of the 2020 census was 9,375.
Mount Juliet
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Mount Juliet is a town in Central Tennessee. The city had a population of about 39,000 people in 2020.
Fayetteville
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Fayetteville is the county seat of and the largest city in Lincoln County, Tennessee, United States. The city's population was 7,095 at the 2020 census.
Dickson
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Dickson is a city in Central Tennessee and can be both parts sleepy and busy far-flung exurb of Nashville.
Waverly
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Waverly, the county seat of Humphreys County in Central Tennessee, is like the typical sleepy Southern town with charm. It has points of interest covering a large spectrum of time, from the prehistoric era to the Civil War to contemporary culture.
Cowan
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Not to be confused with Cowan in Victoria, in which is covered in the Phillip Island article Cowan is a very small town in Tennessee. It has roughly 1,700 residents, and is located at the foot of the Cumberland Plateau between Chattanooga and Nashville.
Ashland City
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Ashland City is in Central Tennessee. Located about 30 minutes northwest of Nashville and 40 minutes southeast of Clarksville, Ashland City offers beautiful rolling hills perfect for hiking and mountain biking.
Tracy City
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Tracy City is a town of 1,400 people in Grundy County in central Tennessee. There are many hills, rock faces, and beautiful streams in the countryside surrounding Tracy City. The town is built around a few streams that flow through its limits.
Monteagle
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Monteagle is a town in Franklin, Grundy, and Marion counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, in the Cumberland Plateau region of the southeastern part of the state.
Sewanee
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Sewanee is a small town in south-central Tennessee. It is known primarily for its natural scenery and association with the University of the South. There are roughly 2,500 residents, of whom about 1,500 are students at the University.
Central Tennessee
- Type: Economic region with 2,460,000 residents
- Description: geographic region
- Also known as: “Middle Tennessee”
- Neighbors: Eastern Tennessee and Western Tennessee
- Categories: Grand Divisions of Tennessee and region
- Location: Tennessee, South, United States, North America
- View on OpenStreetMap
This page is based on GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
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Satellite Map
Discover Central Tennessee from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
In Other Languages
From Catalan to Ukrainian—“Central Tennessee” goes by many names.
- Catalan: “Central Tennessee”
- Catalan: “Middle Tennessee”
- Chinese: “中田纳西”
- Chinese: “田納西州中部”
- Chinese: “田纳西州中部”
- Italian: “Tennessee centrale”
- Japanese: “中部テネシー”
- Korean: “중부 테네시”
- Slovenian: “Middle Tennessee”
- Slovenian: “Srednji Tennessee”
- Ukrainian: “Мідл Теннессі”
- Ukrainian: “Середнє Теннессі”
Tennessee: Must-Visit Destinations
Delve into Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Oak Ridge.
Explore These Curated Destinations
Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Central Tennessee”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.