Sweet Lips, Tennessee

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Sweet Lips, Tennessee
unincorporated community
Sweet-Lips-sign-tn.jpg
Sweet Lips
USA Tennessee location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Sweet Lips, Tennessee
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Sweet Lips, Tennessee
Coordinates: 35°24′30″N88°31′20″W / 35.40833°N 88.52222°W / 35.40833; -88.52222
Country United States
State Tennessee
County Chester
Elevation
584 ft (178 m)
Time zone UTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID1303968 [1]

Sweet Lips (or "Sweetlips") is an unincorporated community in Chester County, Tennessee, United States. [2]

Contents

History

The first settlers arrived in the 1820s. [3] Residents have claimed that the name comes from "settlers (or wandering hobos or thirsty Civil War soldiers, depending on whom you ask) who declared water from a creek to be 'sweet to the lips.'" [3] [4] [5] Alternatively, It may be named after Sweet Lips, the gun that a Tennessean soldier used to kill Patrick Ferguson who was leading an army of Loyalists to invade Tennessee on October 7, 1780. [6] It may also be named after George Washington's dog with the same name. [7] Sweet Lips has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names. [3] [8] [9]

A 1986 profile on the community reported a population of 85, no stop signs or street lights, no post office, and that the former two-room school house was now the "Sweet Lips Grocery" store. [10] [11] The school closed in 1960. [12]

Some scenes from the 1973 movie Walking Tall were filmed in Sweet Lips. [13]

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sweet Lips, Tennessee
  2. ↑ Boothby, Karen J. (February 18, 2009). Sweet Lips with a sense of humor, The Jackson Sun (article on this "Chester County community" notes that "when your community's named Sweet Lips, you learn to have a sense of humor.")
  3. 1 2 3 (July 14, 1991). Toad Suck, 10 miles, Stop laughing - that's the town's name, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ("The village, settled about 170 years ago, once bustled. Now the community's lone business is Sweet Lips Store.")
  4. ↑ Boyd, L.M. (July 20, 1995). Greater Singers, Daily Record (Washington)
  5. ↑ "From Panic to Tranquility". Reading Eagle. April 7, 2003. pp. B7. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  6. ↑ "The American Revolution". Tennessee4me. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  7. ↑ "George Washington: Founding Father—And Passionate Dog Breeder". HISTORY. December 3, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  8. ↑ Rose, Allen (June 12, 1993). LIZARD LICK IS ODD NAME FOR TOWN, BUT MAP IS FULL OF OFF-BEAT NAMES, Orlando Sentinel
  9. ↑ (August 28, 1886). A Nation of Humorists, The Atlanta Constitution (1886 article notes name -- "In Tennessee we find Sweet Lips, Defeated, Regret, Peanut, Quiz and Tut.")
  10. ↑ (June 25, 1986). A Sweet Lips, Tennessee Homecoming, Tri-City Herald (reprint from the Los Angeles Times
  11. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sweet Lips TN post office
  12. ↑ Chester Co. Historical Society. Chester Co, TN - Vol II - Pictorial, p. 135 (2001)
  13. ↑ Pusser, Dwana. Walking on: A Daughter's Journey With Legendary Sheriff Buford Pusser, p. 159 (2009)
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