Peter Decherd came to the area in 1831 from Franklin County, Virginia and set up a plantation. In the 1850s he granted right-of-way to the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. On February 14, 1856, the thirty-first General Assembly of the state of Tennessee incorporated the town of Decherd with all the rights and privileges as the town of Cookeville, which was also incorporated at that time. After the Civil War, Decherd was again incorporated as a town on January 30, 1868. It was unincorporated in 1885 to avoid application of the "Four Mile Law", which permitted liquor sales within four miles of schools located in incorporated communities. The town was chartered once again by the General Assembly on April 22, 1901. The Haynes House in Decherd is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,246 people, 960 households, and 640 families residing in the city. The population density was 481.4 people per square mile. There were 1,048 housing units at an average density of 224.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 82.72% White, 14.47% African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.76% from other races, and 1.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.74% of the population. There were 960 households, out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couplesliving together, 18.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.85. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.2% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,750, and the median income for a family was $35,817. Males had a median income of $27,094 versus $19,088 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,969. About 14.4% of families and 18.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.9% of those under age 18 and 16.1% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Decherd is home to a large automobile engine assembly plant owned by Nissan. The Nissan Powertrain Assembly Plant at Decherd launched in 1997 and now produces 1.4 million engines a year for many Nissan cars, SUV's, and trucks, alongside powertrains for the all-electric Nissan Leaf. The Nissan Powertrain Plant employs over 1,600 employees. In 2014 a second plant on the same property was launched to produce engines for Infiniti and Daimler.
