There’s not much happening in Stanton, Tennessee, or at least that’s been the case for a long time. The rural town in the western part of the state has an estimated population of 420 people as of 2019. In the history of Stanton, the town’s population has never exceeded 700 people. Stanton is about 50 miles northeast of Memphis but is known for its proximity to the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge, which has about 11,500-plus acres of wetlands habitat for seasonal hunting and fishing.
The town has a total land area of only half a square mile and is part of Haywood County in west Tennessee. Haywood County is only one of two remaining counties in Tennessee with a majority Black population, as Stanton’s Black community accounts for about 68 percent of the town’s population. Like much of western Tennessee, the town’s history is tied to agriculture and cotton fields.
Haywood County, Tennessee, will soon be home to a $5.6 billion Ford factory that’ll build electric vehicles and batteries. Source: File:Haywood County TN county line marker.jpg – Wikimedia Commons
The quiet country life in Stanton, Tennessee, is all the more reason the news of a vast, complex mega-factory called “Blue Oval City” seems so jarring. Ford and SK Innovation announced in September 2021 that they’d build a factory in Stanton to manufacture electric vehicles and EV batteries. The facility is expected to be operational in 2025, costing approximately $5.6 billion and making it the single most expensive investment in Tennessee’s history.
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