2019-2020 Community Guide and Directory GUTS

Our History
WILMA RUDOLPH, OLYMPIC
TRACK AND FIELD GOLD
MEDALIST AND CIVIL RIGHTS
TRAILBLAZER, who was paralyzed
by polio as a young child, went on to
be considered “the fastest woman
in the world” in the 1960s, bringing
home three gold medals from the
1956 and 1960 Olympic Games.
Named in her honor is a portion of
Highway 79 along with the event
center within Liberty Park. A bronze
statue of Rudolph also adorns the
exterior of the event center.
Clarksville was established in 1784 near the confluence of the
Cumberland and Red Rivers, where John Montgomery and Martin
Armstrong began creating a settlement. The area had great value not only
in being near the water but also by being downstream from Nashville.
The town was named for General George Rogers Clark, an Indian fighter
and Revolutionary War leader.
Though originally established as part of colonial North Carolina, Tennessee
was eventually founded as the 16th state in 1796, at which point Tennessee
County was divided into Montgomery and Robertson Counties.
Although Clarksville endured hardships in its first 20 years, the early 1800s
were devoted to building roads, railroads and bridges, as well as establishing
churches and educational institutions. In 1806, Rural Academy was
established on the present site of Austin Peay State University. Two years
later, the state’s oldest newspaper, The Leaf-Chronicle, went to print.
After the Civil War in the 1860’s, Clarksville grew in notoriety as a farming
and trading town and became well-known for its tobacco production.
Today, Clarksville is one of the fastest growing cities in the South.
Notable Clarksvillians
AUTHORS
Caroline Gordon, Author
Evelyn Scott, Author
Allen Tate, Author
Robert Penn Warren, Author
TV, STAGE & FILM
Rachel Smith,
Miss USA® 2007
Dorothy Jordan, Actress
Frank Sutton, Actor
Charles Bollin Watts, Actor
Helen Wood, Actress
MUSIC & ART
Ferdinand Lust, Musician
Clarence Cameron White,
Violinist & Composer
Roland Hayes, Lyric Tenor and Composer
Robert Loftin Newman,Visual Artist
Tristan Mcintosh, American Idol Finalist
MEDICINE
Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, First Female African
American Dentist
Dr. Robert Burt, Surgeon;
Founded Clarksville’s First Hospital
A STATUE HONORING
CLARKSVILLE NATIVE AND
BASKETBALL COACHING LEGEND
PAT HEAD SUMMITT is located
at the north end of Liberty Park.
Backed by a wall with interpretive
signs about Summitt’s life, family
and career. What makes this plan
especially appealing is that the south
end of Liberty Park is home to the
Wilma Rudolph Event Center, with
the bronze statue of Wilma Rudolph
out front. This allows Liberty Park to
be “bookended” by statues of two
female athletic legends - both of
them Olympic gold champions.
ATHLETICS
Trenton Hassell, NBA Player
Shawn Marion, NBA Player
Pat Head Summitt, NCAA Basketball Coach
Mason Rudolph, PGA Golfer
Horace Lisenbee, MLB Player
BUSINESS
Clarence Saunders,
Founder of the present-day Supermarket
A.H. Patch, Inventor of the Corn Sheller
Brenda Vineyard Runyon,
Founder of First Woman’s Bank
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