History of Randolph, Tennessee

rdf:langString History of Randolph, Tennessee

rdf:langString Randolph is an unincorporated rural community in Tipton County, Tennessee, United States, located on the banks of the Mississippi River. The lands of the Mississippi River Basin were inhabited by Paleo-Indians and later Native American tribes of the Mississippian culture for thousands of years. The Tipton phase people and the Chickasaw Indian tribe populated the Mississippi River valley near Randolph during the Mississippian period. In 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto crossed the Mississippi River at or near Randolph. French explorer Cavelier de La Salle built the first French fortification at or near Randolph on his 1682 canoe expedition of the Mississippi River. European settlers arrived in the area around 1800. The town of Randolph was founded in the 1820s as one of the earliest European settlements in Tipton County. The location of Randolph, on the second Chickasaw Bluff along the banks of the Mississippi River, just south of the lower mouth of the Hatchie River, provided for an ideal harbor for flatboats and steamboats and made the town an early center of river commerce in West Tennessee. Randolph shipped more cotton annually than Memphis until 1840. The commercial success of the community also depended on the use of slave labor in the cotton fields surrounding the settlement. In 1827, the Randolph Post office was established and in 1834, the first pastor was appointed to the Randolph Methodist congregation. The fortunes of the community began to decline in the late 1840s due to failed railroad development, an unfavorable mail route and an unsuccessful attempt to move the county seat from Covington to Randolph. An unfinished project to cut a canal from the Hatchie River to the Tennessee River and other factors also contributed to the commercial demise of the town. The first Confederate States Army fort in Tennessee was built at Randolph early in the American Civil War in 1861; a second fortification at Randolph was constructed later that same year. During the Civil War, the town was burned down twice by Union Army forces, which further promoted the decline of the once flourishing community. In 2008, Randolph Bluff Historic Park was dedicated. The park is intended to promote the Civil War history of the community and make the unique views of the Mississippi River available to a wider public. Once finished, the park will be part of the Mississippi River Corridor Tennessee, a project to "create a scenic byway that connects historic sites along the Mississippi River". As of 2008, Randolph has a population of ca. 200 and consists of about two dozen dwellings. The economy of the rural community is dominated by agriculture with no major industries and businesses present.