Mayor

Dean Henry

 

Vice-Mayor

Ray Melton

 

Alderman

Bill James

Jeff Landrum

Shirley Wright

Mitch Vincent

Iva Lillard

Ray Melton

 

 

 

 

 

 

City Recorder

Laura Smith

 

Public Works

Ben Wade

 

Fire Chief

Edgar A. Jewell, Jr.

 

Police Chief

Jackie Melton

 

 

The town of Decatur was established in early May of 1836, as lots were laid off for auction on 51 acres of land centrally located in the new county of Meigs in Southeast Tennessee.  The auction brought in $4000.00 which was used to build a courthouse ($2400.00) and a jail ($2000.00, and thus the little town that was named after the military hero Commodore Stephen Decatur began.

 

The town saw nearly all the men leave in the 1860’s to go and fight the Civil War.  It saw the glorious era of the steamboat come and go.  Decatur focused on the home, the neighbors, the good of the community, the church, the school and the outstanding military service as it began its history...as it still does today. 

 

Tradition is rich in Decatur.  Connections to the past are as clear as a bell— literally.  The bell that stood in the yard of the James Lillard home around which Decatur was built in 1836 can still be heard on occasion today; ringing from the belfry of the First Baptist Church which graciously received the bell from the Lillard family over a century ago.  Consider the ringing of that ancient bell a welcoming of all who would like to return to (or visit) us soon in the warm hometown of Decatur, Tennessee.

Population

1500

 

Square Miles

2.6

 

Average

Temp

59 Degrees

 

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

City

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