A segment of State Route 19 between Brownsville and Nutbush was named "Tina Turner Highway" in 2002 after singer Tina Turner who spent her childhood in Nutbush.[5][6][7] State Route 19 is mentioned in her song "Nutbush City Limits".
State Route 19 is located on the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area with a high earthquake risk. At the west end of the route, Island No. 30 of the Mississippi River was created by earthquake activity in the early 19th century, when the river changed course permanently.
Counties traversed
SR 19 in Golddust (2008)
State Route 19 traverses the counties (west to east) shown in the table below.[1]
State Route 19 begins in Golddust at the intersection of Crutcher Lake Road and Four Mile Lane. The first several miles of SR 19 traverse the Mississippi River valley with expansive flood plains and large farmland. SR 19 ascends a steep bluff and traverses the rolling hills of West Tennessee as it continues east through Ripley, Nutbush and Brownsville to reach its eastern terminus at I-40.[3][4]
Mississippi River to Ripley
From Golddust in Lauderdale County all the way east to Ripley SR 19 is designated secondary. It intersects US 51 west of Ripley, east of the US 51 intersection the route continues designated primary.
Starting near the banks of the Mississippi River, State Route 19 runs northeast, parallel to the river, for about 5 mi (8 km) in the flood plains. It continues east, through the bluffs, then passing low cotton fields and hills until it reaches Ripley, also in Lauderdale County.
On a 1 mi (1.6 km) long bypass west of Ripley, SR 19 and US 51 overlap on the US 51 bypass. South of Ripley, at the southern end of the overlap with US 51, SR 19-Bypass continues eastbound for 2.5 mi (4 km), it ends at Linda Rd in Ripley and continues as primary State Route 19.
In Nutbush, SR 180 starts, continuing north to Gates, Tennessee.
Historic State Route 19 – East of Nutbush in Haywood County, a section of Old SR 19 parallels State Route 19 just south of the route for about 5 mi (8 km) through a rural area along cotton fields and through the rolling hills of West Tennessee.[8]
The segment of SR 19 east of Brownsville in Haywood County to the eastern terminus of SR 19 at I-40 Exit 60 (Mercer Road), also in Haywood County, is designated secondary.
In Brownsville State Route 19 intersects SR 54 (Main Street). South of Brownsville the route intersects US 70 and US 79. State Route 19 and US 70/US 79 overlap for 2 mi (3.2 km) on the US 70/US 79 bypass south of Brownsville. At Jefferson Street, US 70/US 79 continue north and State Route 19 leaves the overlap and continues east as secondary SR 19 all the way to I-40.
Industries are present along the route in the urban area between Brownsville and I-40. The agricultural landscape of the area east of Brownsville is dominated by cotton fields.
At the western terminus of State Route 19, northwest of Golddust, Tennessee, Island No. 30 of the Mississippi River was created during the New Madrid earthquakes when the Mississippi River changed course permanently, shortening the river by about 1.5 mi (2,4 km), and cutting off part of Lauderdale County, Tennessee, placing it on the other side of the river, the Mississippi County, Arkansas side northeast of Osceola.
After the abolition of slavery, sharecropping was the primary means of income for low income families in the area along SR 19. Mostly for the cultivation of cotton, land would be used by sharecroppers in return for a share of the crop to the landowner.
The early black and white musicians and singers from the Nutbush churches along today's State Route 19 recorded and influenced an international audience.
Tina Turner spent her childhood in Nutbush, Tennessee, 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Brownsville. In 2002, Tennessee State Route 19 between Nutbush and Brownsville was officially designated "Tina Turner Highway" in honor of the singer.[5][6][7]
"Nutbush City Limits"
State Route 19 is mentioned in the Tina Turner song "Nutbush City Limits" (1973, produced by Ike Turner) as "Highway number nineteen".
According to the song, there was a speed limit of 25 mph (40 km/h) ("Twenty-five was the speed limit") on State Route 19 in the city of Nutbush at one time.
East of Nutbush, in Haywood County, a section of Old SR 19 parallels State Route 19 just south of the main route for about 5 mi (8 km), covering about two-thirds of the distance from Nutbush to Brownsville on the old route through a rural area along cotton fields and through the rolling hills of West Tennessee.[8]
Woodlawn Baptist Church, a US historic location, is on Woodlawn Rd., ca. 3 mi (4,8 km) southeast of Nutbush, just north of old SR 19. The church was a family church of singer Tina Turner. She attended and sang in the choir growing up. Her family members were church officials, musicians and singers who are buried in the cemetery.[13]
Old-State Route 19 and SR 19 join again at Bobby Mann Rd, 3 mi (4.8 km) northwest of Brownsville.
^A History of Tennessee Arts, University of Tennessee Press
^Information by Sharon Norris, national preservationist, author and researcher of Black America Series: Haywood County Tennessee; relative of Tina Turner and native of Nutbush
West, Carroll Van & Duncan Binnicker, Margaret (2004). A History of Tennessee Arts. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press. ISBN1-57233-239-5.
Norris, Sharon (2000). Black America Series: Haywood County Tennessee. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN0-7385-0605-2.
I-40 Exit 60 at Mercer Rd
