Munford
Tennessee
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City of Munford
The History of Munford
The Town of Munford can trace its origins to the early 1850’s when the Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church moved to the current site of the Munford Presbyterian Church in downtown Munford. Soon afterward, a small, unplanned village grew up around the growing Methodist church that would officially be named “Mt. Zion” after the Post Office opened there in 1856.
The Methodist church was not Mt. Zion’s only claim to distinction. The young town was home to the Tipton Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons founded in 1853, which is the second oldest Masonic Lodge in Tipton County. For many years, Mt. Zion was the home of the Memphis District High School, (also known as the Dyersburg District High School), that was operated by the Memphis Conference of the Methodist Church. This fine educational institution was later leased and then purchased by the Tipton County Board of Education. This school was the forerunner of the present Munford Elementary, Middle and High Schools.
In 1874 Mt Zion’s Post Office was closed. When Mt. Zion reapplied to the United States Post Office Department in 1886 to have their old Post Office reopened, the Post Office Department approved the application with one exception. The town would have to come up with another name for their Post Office. The reason behind the government agency’s request was simple.
They claimed that if the name of Mt. Zion were reinstated, it would cause confusion among postal employees when sorting the mail between Mt. Zion, Tennessee and Mt. Zion, Pennsylvania. It may be noted here that at the time the common abbreviation for Tennessee was “Tenn.” and the common abbreviation for Pennsylvania was “Penn.” In print and especially in script, the names of these two towns would look very familiar to postal employees attempting to sort the mail.
Although the Post Office after 1886 was known as Munford, parts of the town would continue to be known as Mt. Zion. That would all come to an end in 1905 when Munford was incorporated by an Act of the Tennessee General Assembly. S.H. Bass was elected as the first mayor.
The Town of Munford can trace its origins to the early 1850’s when the Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church moved to the current site of the Munford Presbyterian Church in downtown Munford. Soon afterward, a small, unplanned village grew up around the growing Methodist church that would officially be named “Mt. Zion” after the Post Office opened there in 1856.
The Methodist church was not Mt. Zion’s only claim to distinction. The young town was home to the Tipton Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons founded in 1853, which is the second oldest Masonic Lodge in Tipton County. For many years, Mt. Zion was the home of the Memphis District High School, (also known as the Dyersburg District High School), that was operated by the Memphis Conference of the Methodist Church. This fine educational institution was later leased and then purchased by the Tipton County Board of Education. This school was the forerunner of the present Munford Elementary, Middle and High Schools.
In 1874 Mt Zion’s Post Office was closed. When Mt. Zion reapplied to the United States Post Office Department in 1886 to have their old Post Office reopened, the Post Office Department approved the application with one exception. The town would have to come up with another name for their Post Office. The reason behind the government agency’s request was simple.
They claimed that if the name of Mt. Zion were reinstated, it would cause confusion among postal employees when sorting the mail between Mt. Zion, Tennessee and Mt. Zion, Pennsylvania. It may be noted here that at the time the common abbreviation for Tennessee was “Tenn.” and the common abbreviation for Pennsylvania was “Penn.” In print and especially in script, the names of these two towns would look very familiar to postal employees attempting to sort the mail.
Although the Post Office after 1886 was known as Munford, parts of the town would continue to be known as Mt. Zion. That would all come to an end in 1905 when Munford was incorporated by an Act of the Tennessee General Assembly. S.H. Bass was elected as the first mayor.