HOHENWALD, Tenn. (WTVF) — The first stop on our Your Voice tour for 2026 took us about 90 minutes outside of Nashville to Lewis County, home to around 13,000, the majority of which are families with younger children.
The county seat, Hohenwald, is indeed the focal point.
It's a place that offers small town charm and a relaxed pace that's undeniable that is getting the attention of prospective homeowners nationwide.
Moving company U-Haul publishes a growth index every year, which tracks one-way moves. Not surprisingly, in 2025, Tennessee was a top destination, ranking fourth.
The data looked at where in Tennessee these movers have decided to plant roots.
Some spots you might expect included Brentwood, Franklin, Cookeville, and Murfreesboro.
But a few communities on the list caught our eye, like, Tullahoma and Hohenwald.
So we set out to find out what might be luring new residents a bit farther out from Metro Nashville.
We met the lunch crowd at The Junk Yard Dog Steakhouse downtown, where the menu includes delicious food and even better conversation.
It wasn't hard to find some folks who've lived in Hohenwald for decades and were proud to share what makes it special.
"If you're used to a high-pace in the city or, you know, a head-to-head traffic, anything like that, you can come to a place like this and things just slow way down," David Thomas said. "But you still have access to the bigger cities and all the things that you would have if you lived there, but you don't have to cut up with it all the time."
But with all of those benefits of living in a town where everything seems to just take its time, there are financial challenges that come with growth.
Relatively speaking, it's slow growth, but it's clear more people are moving here, seeking the solace of a country life.
"The only thing that concerns me is, you know, property skyrocketing," one person told us. "And it's kind of hard on lower to middle income families...It's hard for them to find places that they can afford now."
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We did some digging on the US Census Bureau website, and found that the median household income in Lewis County sits around $49,000.
And as developers move in and work to incentivize selling land with large payouts, some life-long Lewis County residents said they're worried those moves could permanently change the landscape and character of their quiet community.
"People coming in and maybe behind of all the land we want to stop our land to pass on their kids the prices are going up and you worry about them being in and also some of that land being turned into development to where it doesn't even look the same anymore," Thomas said.
The Jefferson Street Sound Museum is a great little gem in North Nashville. The founder and curator turned his home into a museum to keep the legacy of historic Jefferson street alive. Now, it's been named a stop on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. Aaron Cantrell takes us inside.
- Lelan Statom
