User:SLBohrman/sandbox/Atoka

Work on information to be added to the Atoka, Tennessee page from here.

See Distinction between cities and towns in the Wikipedia article City

WikiProject Cities/U.S. municipality notes

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Joseph B. Adkison presented Congressional Medal of Honor in Atoka - http://books.google.com/books?id=lLmHt8LUFfcC&pg=PA237&dq=%22Joseph+B+Adkison%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5lbYUanRI-PN0gGcw4HwDw&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Joseph%20B%20Adkison%22&f=false

Seargent Joseph B. Adkison of Atoka was a member of Company C. 199th Infantry. 30 Division. during World War I. In 1919, he was presented the Congressional Medal of Honor in a ceremony at the Presbyterian Church in Atoka. In addition to this honor, he also received The Great War of Civilization Medal, the Italian War Cross, and the Republic of Portugal Medal. The town of Atoka, Tennessee placed a monument honoring Joseph Adkison on the front lawn of the Presbyterian Church. Between the years 1986, when Atoka celebrated Tennessee Homeocming '86, and 2011, when Atoka had a Centennial Celebration, land for Adkison Park was donated, the monument was moved to the park, a concrete walkway from the street to the monument was placed, a flagpole was erected, lights were added around the flagpole, a paved walking path was installed, trees, plants, and flowers were added, part of the walkway was replaced with memorial and honorary brick pavers, the area around the monument was extended with memorial and honorary brick pavers, and a brick sitting wall was built behind the monument. The park, located in front of Boy Scout Troop 60's scout hut, became the permanent home of the monument honoring Joseph Adkison. The town had named the street to the west of the park Adkison Circle. In 2013, the town of Atoka placed a commemorative plaque over the face of the old monument.



Subjects pertinent to Atoka, Tennessee:
 * surrounding area
 * Firsts
 * More railroad information
 * Mail by Rail
 * RPO last runs
 * More post office information
 * Rural Free Delivery
 * Postmasters in the Mid-19th Century
 * The 20th Century
 * Parcel Post
 * ZIP Code
 * Post Office Names
 * United States Postal Service
 * War Heroes
 * American Revolution
 * Revolutionary War soldiers, such as Robert McCreight, can be traced through ancestors from Atoka and Portersville.
 * WW II
 * Solon Beaver Jr., see also Welcome Home Atoka - pg. 32, WWII, Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, 34th Bomber Squadron, 17th Bomber Group, Medium, Purple Heart Meda, lAir Medal, Additional Army Awards
 * Robert Harold Davidson - enlisted 18 Feb 1942, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA (from ancestry.com), WWII, Welcome Home Atoka - pg 32, Home in 1930 - Atoka, TN (census)

Atoka, Tennessee is a corporate local government in the county of Tipton, state of Tennessee the country of the United States of America. Atoka, as a local government, was originally called Portersville.

Atoka, Tennessee is also the United States Postal Service mailing address of an area which includes the city limits, but also extends beyond the city limits.

Local Government

Origins
From the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Covington Leader, 1886 to 1936: The trading center for the Atoka area before the rise of the town was Portersville... With the coming of the railroad in 1872 and opening of stores in Atoka, there grew up an intense rivalry between the two towns, but Atoka's advantage of the railroad proved to be too much, and Portersville gradually died out. Today not a store or store building remains in Portersville and it passes into history...

Portersville remains relevant today because it appears in United States census data, United States Postal records, Tennessee government records, Tipton County land records, vital records, ancestral records, church records, family histories and anything that relates to the people that lived there and the businesses that existed there.

City Limits
The City limits of Atoka have changed many times over the years. As of 2013, he city limits of Atoka, Tennessee meet the city limits of Brighton, Tennessee on the north and the city limits of Munford, Tennessee on the west. Because of the close proximity of the three local governments, their histories are intermingled, but each location has its own social, political, historical, and cultural identity. To the East are unincorporated communities. The west boundary of the city limits of Atoka also runs along US Highway 51.

Agricultural areas exists within the city limits of Atoka, as well as, in the surrounding areas and are used primarily for the cultivation of soy beans, corn, cotton and milo.

Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 8,387 people and 2,701 households.

United States Postal Service
(needs research) - The Atoka Post Office was originally the Portersville Post Office.

Atoka was the first post office with rural free delivery in Tennessee. Rural free delivery started in Atoka on January 11, 1897.

Railroad
The railroad tracks between Chicago, Illinoia and New Orleans, Louisiana run through the city limits of Atoka.
 * Canadian National Railway
 * Illinois Central Railroad
 * Memphis and Paducah
 * Chesapeake and Ohio Railway

As of 2013, Amtrak City of New Orleans passes nightly through Atoka at high speeds, compared to the relatively slow freight trains that make regular trips throughout the day.

Disasters and Accidents
Railroad Accident report

Tornado - April 21, 1928

"In Atoka, fifteen homes and practically the entire town business district were destroyed. One person was killed and several injured."

1811–1812 New Madrid earthquakes

At the time of the New Madrid earthquakes, the number of United States inhabitants per square mile were estimated to be 2 or fewer.