Michie is rooted in a 19th century community known as "Monterey." When the community applied for a post office, the name Monterey had already been taken by another town in Tennessee, so the community settled on the name "Michie" after a prominent local family. The town incorporated in 1961.[5][6]
From 1979 to 1980, an expansion and update was completed to the Michie Water System, rising from 450 to 850 customers.[7] In 1981, construction for a regulation-approved baseball/softball park began and completed on May 3, 1982. By 1982, the Michie Volunteer Fire Department was organized. From February of 1982 to August of 1983, the Michie Civic Center constructed and opened to the public for community activities. Around the early to mid-1980s, the Michie City Park was constructed, paid for by Michie's General Funds with assistance from Federal Revenue Sharing. A factory, U.S. Apparel, was established in 1985 in the old Michie Community Center, generating 35 jobs. From 1980 to 1990, the population of Michie grew from 530 to 677. Road renovations were made in 1991 for Michie's paving program.[8] By 1994, the Town of Michie purchased a new pumper and tanker for their fire department, which would also see the completion of their fire station in 1996.[9]
In August of 1977, Dr. E.S. Howard was elected mayor of Michie. In November of 1977, James "Tommy" Thomas Wigginton was forwarded to vice-mayor of Michie from his position of alderman due to the death of Howard. From 1977, Tommy would serve at 5 terms (19 years) before his death on March 9, 1996.[10] Because mayor Tommy's death occurred within his term, his wife was given the office but forwarded to her son instead. By the 1997 election year, Barry Moore was elected mayor. After Moore's service, John Greer then Anthony Smith were elected.[11]
As of 2025, Wesley "Wes" Rainey is the mayor of Michie. The current aldermen are David Lynn Baker, Jed Baker, Robert Dunn and Jay Poindexter. The city's attorney is Terry Wood.[12]
A list of deeds by Mayor James "Tommy" Thomas Wigginton of Michie (1996).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.6 square miles (15km2), all land.
Newspaper
Michie's newspaper is the McNairy County News, which has the largest following of any weekly newspaper on Facebook in the state of Tennessee. They are located at 252 Mulberry Ave. in Selmer.
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 647 people, 275 households, and 201 families residing in the town. The population density was 116.6 inhabitants per square mile (45.0/km2). There were 310 housing units at an average density of 55.9 per square mile (21.6/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 97.84% White, 1.08% African American, 0.46% from other races, and 0.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.70% of the population.
There were 275 households, out of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.4% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.6% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $28,929, and the median income for a family was $34,688. Males had a median income of $30,119 versus $20,625 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,122. About 9.3% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.
School
Michie Elementary is the home of the Blue Devils, located on 6418 Hwy 57E, Michie, TN[16]. MES is 1 of 5 schools located in the McNairy County School District. As of 2025, the enrollment population rests at 366.[17] Their sports consist of Jr. High Football, Softball, both male and female basketball teams, and a track team.[18] The school was originally a high school before its transformation in the 1960s.[19]
1 2 Anonymous. (1996, May). [List of deeds by mayor in Michie, TN]. [Unpublished document]. Michie Civic Center, Michie, TN. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
