Fentress County, Tennessee

Fentress County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 16,625. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 17,159. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,292 (499 ). 1,291 km² (499 sq mi) of it is land and 1 km² (0.4 sq mi) of it (0.07%) is water.

Fentress County includes part of and is drained by forks of the  and  Rivers.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (west)
 * (southwest)

History
Fentress County was formed in 1823 from portions of Morgan, Overton and counties. It was named in honor of (1763-1843), who served as speaker of the state house, chairman of  Court, and commissioner to select seats for, ,  and  counties.

, a hero of about whom the 1941 -winning   starring  was made, was born and lived in Fentress County. He also established the in  (the county seat) in 1924, which is still in use today.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 16,625 people, 6,693 households, and 4,818 families residing in the county. The was 13/km² (33/sq mi). There were 7,598 housing units at an average density of 6/km² (15/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 99.24%, 0.11% or , 0.15% , 0.10% , 0.03% from , and 0.37% from two or more races. 0.54% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 6,693 households out of which 31.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.30% were living together, 11.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.00% were non-families. 25.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.20% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 26.10% from 45 to 64, and 13.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $23,238, and the median income for a family was $28,856. Males had a median income of $23,606 versus $18,729 for females. The for the county was $12,999. About 19.50% of families and 23.10% of the population were below the, including 27.80% of those under age 18 and 20.50% of those age 65 or over.