Sweet Lips, Tennessee — The Real Story Behind the Name

Some towns don’t have a lot going on. They don’t have heavy industry, or Internet startups, or a booming population, or a prime location on a beautiful stretch of beach or a magnificent ski slope. Sweet Lips, Tennessee, may lack these things, but the folks who live there can definitely boast about their town's pretty "sweet" name.

The Small Town and the Civil War

Sweet Lips got its unusual moniker from a nearby creek. It seems that, back in the day, during the American Civil War, soldiers who happened to be marching past this spot in western Tennessee would stoop down and drink from a local stream. We’re not sure if that water was sweeter than the water found in other creeks, or if it just tasted especially good after a long day’s march, but somehow the name stuck.

The Simple Life in Sweet Lips

Sweet Lips isn’t exactly the busiest place on the planet. You won’t stumble upon any kind of shopping mall, department store, car dealership, cinema, barbershop, sidewalk or many other modern conveniences. Just enter Sweet Lips, Tennessee, into a Google search and see what you get back. Not a whole lot. They did have a pretty big fair back in 1986 it seems, at least according to the L.A. Times.

Sweet Lips Road

Sweet Lips Road is the main center of activity in this quiet town. With a population of fewer than 100 people (probably—exact census records are hard to come by), most folks in Sweet Lips head into nearby Henderson for services, or the much larger Jackson a little farther away.

While Sweet Lips might not be the most hopping of locations, it definitely sports one of the coolest names around. And in case you think there’s absolutely nothing going on here, if you ever do happen to be in western Tennessee, you can swing by the Sweetlips Store for a bite to eat and a bit of down-home country hospitality.

See the real story behind the name Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, here.

[LA Times]