The Economic Development of Dickson County Dickson County, with it's well drained soil and moderate climate proved conductive to the raising of corn and tobacco.
Cotton thrives with a long growing season, in a soil with a sandy-spongy quality.
While Dickson did not meet either of these requirements, the farmers of the pre Civil War era planted this crop as well. They could not resist the profits being realized from this staple. By the summer of 1807 there were at least 14 cotton gins operating in Tennessee, and probably many more not on record. The best farmland in the county was found in the rich bottom lands of the Cumberland and Harpeth Rivers, and the creek bottoms of Johnson, Jones and Bartons creek . The first pioneers settled these areas almost exclusively, acquiring the prime farmland in the county.