1600Infrastructure
Three talk radio stations broadcast on both the FM and the AM dials: WPTN The Eagle 106.1 FM and AM 780 (sports), WHUB The Hub 107.7 FM and AM 1400 (news), and WUCT News Talk 94...
1805History
Cherokee claims to the land in the Cumberland Plateau ended after the Treaty of Tellico was signed in October 1805.
1810Government
The city was named Cookeville for Richard Fielding Cooke, a pioneer who settled in the area in 1810.
1842Government
Putnam County was established in 1842, formed from parts of White, Overton, Jackson, Smith, and DeKalb Counties after the population increased sufficiently, straining those coun...
1854Government
Putnam County reestablished itself in 1854, with the establishment of a county seat required by new Tennessee state law.
1861Military
After Tennessee seceded from the United States in 1861, residents of the Cookeville area were divided about the American Civil War.
1886Architecture
The tides turned by the late 1800s, after the city's first hotel, the Isbell, was completed in 1886, and the Nashville and Knoxville Railroad in 1890.
1896History
The highest temperature recorded in Cookeville since 1896 is 105 °F (41 °C) on June 29, 2012, and the lowest temperature recorded is −22 °F (−30 °C) on January 21, 1985.
1903Government
With this growth, Cookeville officially incorporated into a chartered city in 1903.
1909Architecture
In 1909, the Tennessee Central Railroad constructed the Cookeville Depot in the city's West Side District, providing passenger rail service until 1955.
1915Infrastructure
The state government seized the institution in 1915 following decline in enrollment and financial support.
1930History
By 1930, the completion of U.S.
1946Economy
Other infrastructure additions to the city beneficial to the city's growth included a water treatment plant in 1946, the Cookeville General Hospital in 1950, and a wastewater tr...
1948Education
University of Tennessee Bureau of Public Administration (1948).
1949Architecture
John's Place originally opened as Ed's Place in 1949, and was later known as McClellan's Cafe and finally John's Place as of 1957.
1955History
After its end of passenger rail use in 1955, the Cookeville Depot fell into disrepair.
1964History
Average annual precipitation is 60.02 in (1,525 mm), with the highest recorded precipitation at 6.06 in (154 mm) on September 29, 1964.
1965Education
In 1965, it was renamed Tennessee Technological University.
1966Government
By 1966, the Interstate 40 corridor was completed south of the city center, prompting annexation of several of the freeway's interchanges for commercial development.
1968Infrastructure
The coal industry declined during the 1960s, and the Tennessee Central Railway was discontinued in 1968.
1972History
Anderson, Joseph (1972).
1978Architecture
Corridor J, which went through the engineering phase in 1978 and was completed in the late 1980s, provides expressway-grade access to Cookeville from communities in Overton and ...
1985Architecture
The group responsible for its preservation restored the depot and reopened it as a museum in 1985, the year it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1995History
Keith, Jeanette (1995).
2000Government
=== Modern day ===
Cookeville embarked on one of its recorded largest expansions of its city limits when it annexed over 10 square miles of previously unincorporated Putnam Cou...
2006Disaster
In 2006 Oreck manufacturing moved its Long Beach, Mississippi, plant to Cookeville after Hurricane Katrina.
2007History
In 2007, city officials approved the purchase of over 400 acres for a regional industrial park known as the Highlands Business Park.
2008Architecture
In 2008, Cookeville General Hospital, then recently renamed the Cookeville Regional Medical Center, completed a major renovation and expansion project as a result of the city's ...
2011History
John's Place was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
2013History
It is at the center of the labor market area consisting of Putnam, Cumberland, DeKalb, Jackson, Overton, Smith, and White Counties, with a civilian labor force in 2013 of 103,50...
2014History
As of July 2014, Putnam County's population is 74,165.
2016History
Total retail sales in Cookeville for 2016 were $1.6 billion.
2017History
Putnam County's unemployment rate was 3.0% as of May 2017, down from 3.7% in April.
2018Economy
In 2018, Italian tile and glass maker Colorrobia announced it would open a $5 million laboratory in Cookeville to service ceramic tile factories in the area.
2020Disaster
=== 2020 tornado ===
In the early morning of March 3, 2020, an EF4 tornado touched down west of Cookeville, damaging several of the city's western outskirt neighborhoods.
2022Infrastructure
==== Air ====
There are no commercial passenger airports in the area, but the Cookeville City Council has studied commercial service as of 2022.