Learn More About Wilder, TN

The unincorporated community of Wilder is located in Fentress County, Tennessee, close to Cookeville, Tennessee, and is part of the Cumberland Mountains.

The Fentress Coal and Coke Company developed Wilder as a company town where its workers could live. The first coal mine opened in 1902, and town planning started in 1901. John T. Wilder, the business owner, was honored with the town's naming. By 1903, it had a strong foundation, including the neighborhood's first school. Boyer's Chapel, the community church, was erected in 1922. The first high school graduates came from the class of 1932 after the school started offering high school programs in 1923. As a coal-mining town with more than 10,000 residents in the surrounding area, the community had a population of 2,350 in 1924, but it had fallen to about 400 by 1957 and was estimated to have 249 residents in 2013.

The majority of residents of ZIP code 38589 are Caucasian. While the number of seniors is substantial, the number of middle-aged persons is enormous. In addition, there are fewer families and slightly more single persons than usual. In comparison to other regions of the country, the 38589 ZIP code has a little higher than normal number of residents under the age of 18.