Visitors Guide to Union City, Tennessee
First Monument to the Unknown Confederate Dead
Union City is the county seat of Obion County located in the northwestern region of Tennessee. The history of Union City is tied to the railroads. The town was laid out in 1854 by General George Gibbs on land he received in 1829 and derived its name because it was located where the tracks of the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad and Mobile and Ohio Railroad met.
The Union City area was the site of several events during the Civil War. In early 1861 Camp Brown, which housed up to ten thousand Confederate soldiers, was established one mile north of Union City in preparation for General Leonidas Polk's invasion of Kentucky in September 1861. In March of 1864 the last important engagement in Obion County occurred at Union City. A fort at the railroad station was occupied by 500 men of the U.S. Seventh Tennessee Cavalry under the command of Colonel Isaac Hawkins. The fort was quickly encircled by Confederate forces of Nathan Bedford Forrest's Seventh Cavalry under the command of Colonel Duckworth. Unable to take the Federal stronghold at Union City by force, the Confederates devised a "Quaker cannon" from a black painted log and wagon wheels and successfully demanded unconditional surrender in Forrest's name. There were three other small battles or skirmishes in or near Union City.
Rebuilding and recovery occupied the years following the war. Business and manufacturing had revived by the early 1880s, and the rail lines soon made Union City a commercial center, shipping the products of the county's furniture factories and sawmills to eastern markets.
Obion County's history has been carefully preserved. The first monument ever erected in memory of unknown Confederate dead was dedicated in Union City in 1869. Nearby is the Obion County Museum. On Highway 51 is Turner Kirkland's Dixie Gun Works, the world's largest supplier of antique guns and parts. The Obion County Courthouse, built by the Public Works Administration in 1939-40, and the Park's covered bridge near Trimble are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Union City is the home of the Masquerade Theatre, headquartered in the former Capital Theater on South First Street. It is known for producing theatrical productions for 16 years including musicals, comedies, dramas, children's plays, workshops, and concerts.
Union City - The official website of Union City.
