Middleton, TN

Middleton is a Hardeman County city built around the crossing of Tennessee Routes 125 and 57. Route 125 serves as Main Street, running north to Bolivar and south toward the Mississippi line; the city’s own slogan, “Crossroads of the South,” fits that road-centered geography. The 2020 population was 658. Middleton’s older name, Jenkins-McCommons Crossing, points to the settlers Jesse Jenkins and William Taylor McCommons, while the present name belongs to a town that grew from a rural crossroads into a county community.

Middleton keeps more than one kind of gathering on its calendar. The Fur, Fin and Feather Festival arrives over Labor Day, the M-Town Variety Show takes the stage in March, and a Christmas parade fills December. The Rose House, built by Benjamin Rose in 1833, is the city’s oldest structure. A 40-acre rail-served commercial park and larger industrial facilities add an economic layer to the older roads and houses. Middleton’s 125/57 intersection still tells the basic story: a small city whose history, events, rail line, and county connections all meet at the same crossing.