Giles County, Tennessee

Giles County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 29,447. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 29,297. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,583 (611 ). 1,582 km² (611 sq mi) of it is land and 1 km² (0 sq mi) of it (0.04%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 29,447 people, 11,713 households, and 8,363 families residing in the county. The was 19/km² (48/sq mi). There were 13,113 housing units at an average density of 8/km² (22/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 86.44%, 11.80% or , 0.30% , 0.35% , 0.01% , 0.21% from , and 0.89% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 11,713 households out of which 31.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.80% were living together, 11.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.60% were non-families. 25.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.50% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 27.90% from 25 to 44, 24.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,824, and the median income for a family was $41,714. Males had a median income of $31,221 versus $22,221 for females. The for the county was $17,543. About 9.00% of families and 11.70% of the population were below the, including 14.50% of those under age 18 and 14.80% of those age 65 or over.

Local History
Giles County is named afer William Branch Giles, who was Senator of Virginia and sponsored the admission of Tennessee as the sixteenth state into the Union. He also sponsored the building of the city and courthouse, which has burned four times. The current courthouse was built in 1859 by the George Moore and Sons company. It cost about thirty thousand dollars to complete. Though it stood through the Civil War, it suffered much damage. One of Giles County's local heroes is James McCullam, who served as Grandmaster of the Tennessee Masons, a member of the Confederate Congress, and mayor. He lived in Giles County for seventy years.

Tragedies
On, a  occurred at  in Giles County, when 17-year-old  killed a teacher and a 14-year-old fellow student with a.