City Manager Jim Shipley

 

Welcome to the City of Cookeville’s web site. Cookeville, the county seat of Putnam County, is one of the fastest growing communities in the state, and was listed by "The New Rating Guide to Life in America’s Small Cities" as the number one micropolitan city in Tennessee. Located at the intersection of Interstate 40 and Highway 111 at the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, Cookeville is 80 miles east of Nashville, 100 miles from Knoxville, and 90 miles from Chattanooga. Tennessee Technological University is located in Cookeville. The university is a four-year, state supported, co-educational university with an enrollment of 10,000 students.

The city’s current population is 28,000, and is the regional center for shopping, eating, education, health care and recreational/cultural activities for approximately 200,000 people that live in the surrounding counties. The Cookeville area (known as "The Upper Cumberland") offers a wide variety of recreational and cultural opportunities. The city owns and operates nine city parks; the largest, Cane Creek, includes 260 acres with a 56 acre lake. Three state parks offer many camping, picnicking, hiking and other recreational opportunities. Three Corps of Engineer lakes, with over 1,200 miles of shoreline, are within a 30 minute drive. The city owns and operates the Cookeville Drama Center, which offers a full schedule of touring plays and performances in addition to presentations by the Cookeville Summer Theater and the Cookeville Children’s Theater. The university’s symphony orchestra presents several concerts each year.

We are in the midst of constructing a six-acre addition to our downtown park (known as Dogwood Park). The improvements will include a major water feature, a meandering stream, Concession and restroom building, and improved seating for the performance pavilion.

Cookeville and Putnam County have a consolidated school system. The Putnam County Board of Education operates 18 schools with an enrollment of approximately 10,000 students.  Putnam County schools rank in the top ten systems in the state for academic performance, and have received the Governor’s A+ Award for Excellence in Education, and ACT scores of our students are above the national average.

Cookeville was recently chosen to host the TSSAA High School Football Championship Games for 2009 and 2010. This event will bring thousands of visitors to our city, and will afford us the opportunity to showcase our great city.

We are a designated Tennessee "Main Street" community. Several million dollars have been invested in the downtown district. Improvements included burying electric lines, installing new sidewalks, replacing typical street lighting with decorative lamp posts, and planting trees.

Thanks again for visiting our web site. If you have any questions about our fine city, you can visit with me via e-mail at jshipley@cookeville-tn.org, or give me a call at 931-520-5240.