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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 recently 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 8,200 students.

The city’s current population is 26,000, but 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.

Cookeville and Putnam County have a consolidated school system. The Putnam County Board of Education operates 14 schools with an enrollment of approximately 10,000 students. Since 1989, Putnam County schools have received the Governor’s A+ Award for Excellence in Education., and ACT scores of our students are above the national average.

 

We are a designated Tennessee "Main Street" community, and the downtown area is currently undergoing a major renovation; a $2 million project. The improvements include burying electric lines, installing brick 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. You may also want to call our Chamber of Commerce at (931) 526-2211.