Auburntown, TN

Auburntown is a small Cannon County town in Tennessee's Upper Cumberland, first known as Poplar Stand for the stands of poplar trees around the settlement. The name changed to honor Auburn, New York, and the town incorporated in 1949. The 2020 census counted 272 residents. That gives Auburntown a compact civic scale, with one big annual exception: Red Apple Days brings the town together at C.S. Hawkins Park for a parade, car show, pageant, baking contest, live music, and fireworks.

The festival also supports the Auburntown Volunteer Fire Department, which tells you how the town's community life is organized: a gathering doubles as a fundraiser for a local service. The park becomes a stage for vendors, field games, gospel music, and a kids' zone, while the surrounding Cannon County hills keep Auburntown connected to the rural landscape. The useful picture is a town with a short history on paper and a very tangible tradition in practice: the old Poplar Stand name survives in the story, and Red Apple Days gives the calendar a dependable center.