This partial list of city nicknames in Tennessee compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities and towns in Tennessee are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to municipal governments, local people, outsiders or their tourism boards or chambers of commerce. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity.[1]Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth"[2] are also believed to have economic value.[1] Their economic value is difficult to measure,[1] but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.[2]
Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency.
Adamsville – The Biggest Little Town in Tennessee[3]
^ abcChattanooga Info..., University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Department of Psychology website, accessed January 5, 2008. "Chattanooga has for a long time been considered The Gateway to the South. It is at the crossroads of the railroads, major highways, and the Tennessee River. In recent years it has been completely reborn in a transformation that has also earned it the nickname The Smartest City. You can add those great nicknames to its two existing ones The Scenic City and The City of Lights."
^Refers to the city's Prohibition-era reputation as a center for trade in illegal alcoholic beverages ("Little Chicago"Archived 2006-12-01 at the Wayback Machine on Johnson's Depot website, accessed March 31, 2009).
^White Squirrel Wars, Roadside America, accessed April 21, 2007. "Olney, IL; Marionville, MO; Kenton, TN; Brevard, NC; Exeter, ON. Not one, but five towns use albino squirrels as their claims to fame, and none is particularly happy about the others."
^Knoxville area informationArchived 2007-10-30 at the Wayback Machine, Mast General Store website, accessed January 5, 2008. "In the 1800s and early 1900s, the city was very important as a manufacturing and warehouse district. Knoxville was known as 'The Marble City' because of the famous pink marble supplied by quarries surrounding the city."
^Orkin, David. "THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO: TENNESSEE", The Independent, January 7, 2006, accessed April 22, 2007. "The king is dead, but the Presley legend lives on in Tennessee's largest city, Memphis, which is also the birthplace of the blues and a jewel of the Mississippi."
^MEMPHIS TO LEAD NATIONAL CELEBRATION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF ROCK 'n' ROLL, press release dated November 5, 2003, accessed April 22, 2007. " Memphis is known worldwide as the "Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll" – with close to 20 percent of the earliest inductees in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame having come from within a 100-mile radius of Memphis."
^Nashville: The Athens of the SouthArchived 2016-11-19 at the Wayback Machine, About.com, accessed April 22, 2007. "By the 1850s, Nashville had already earned the nickname of the "Athens of the South" by having established numerous higher education institutions as well as being the first Southern City to establish a public school system."
^Barry Popik, Smoky City, barrypopik.com website, March 27, 2005
^ abCity of Shelbyville official website, accessed January 5, 2008. "We are known as the Walking Horse Capital of the World, and the Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse is crowned at our TWH National Celebration annually. Shelbyville is known as The Pencil City because of its historical importance to pencil manufacturing, although today more "writing instruments" than pencils are produced here."