Cities & Towns
Middleton
Middleton is a thriving community located in the southeastern portion of Hardeman County at the intersection of Highway 125, running north and south, and Highway 57, running east and west, thus justifying its recently adopted slogan "Crossroads of the South."
An industrial center in its own right, Middleton has a 45-acre rail-served commercial park with a full complement of utility service. A major supplier of natural gas in the United States is located on Highway 125. Several large industrial manufacturers are also located in the area and employ more than 1,000 people.
The town has two medical clinics, a dental clinic, a nursing home, three banks, several restaurants and a large number of retail and service establishments. The town has a busy schedule of annual community events including the Fur, Fin and Feather Festival over Labor Day weekend, the "M-Town Variety Show", in March and an annual Christmas Parade and Christmas Yard and Business Decorating Contest each December.
History
Early settlers of Middleton are said to have migrated to the area from the small settlement of Slab Town, located approximately three miles north of Old Stateline Road at Sandy Springs, on an old stage coach line that ran between Memphis and Corinth. For years Middleton was widely known as the Jenkins-McCommons Crossing, named for William Taylor (Zack) McCommons and Jesse Jenkins, who came to Middleton from North Carolina in 1849, and donated much of the land on which Middleton was founded. In 1850, following the extension of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and construction of a depot, the town was chartered and officially named Middleton in honor of a "distinguished Memphis and Charleston official."
Civil War
Middleton, like most Hardeman County towns, was devastated by the Civil War. An old log structure that served as the town's first store, was the only business left standing after the war. It stood on the site now occupied by the Liberty Baptist Church. The oldest existing structure is Rose House on North Main Street, built by Benjamin Rose after 1833. The Methodist Church/Adams Masonic Lodge #264, built in 1859, still stands on the edge of the town square.
