Mt. Juliet celebrates 50 years on Saturday

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WSMV) - The town of Mt. Juliet is celebrating its 50th birthday.

The festivities for the half a century celebration will be at Charlie Daniels Park on Saturday, June 16, starting at 4 p.m. The park is going to be full of water slides, food trucks, and music. You’ll have a chance to go up in a hot air balloon and admire Mt. Juliet from the sky.

Over the past 50 years, Mt. Juliet went from being mostly farmland to a fast-growing city with a population of more than 30,000.

Mt. Juliet Mayor James Maness moved to Mt. Juliet 20 years ago. Maness has had the chance to see the grown tremendously over the past 20 years, but his favorite thing about the area is the people.

“People stay because of the people who live here and the environment, the culture of the city. That’s what gets people here. Of course, we are celebrating our 50th birthday of the incorporation of the city. They community existed long before it was incorporated,” Maness said.

During World War II, some soldiers trained in Mt. Juliet because the terrain was like that of Europe. It is said that the town is named after a castle in Ireland.

While reflecting on Mt. Juliet’s past, some Mt. Juliet residents are focused on how much it has changed.

When Jim Hunter moved to Mt. Juliet 27-years-ago, he had to drive to Lebanon or Nashville to run errands.

“I mean you could buy a tractor, or you could buy something like that, but you couldn’t buy a pair of socks, that type of thing so it was a long haul from there. I can remember when there was no providence shopping or anything south of I-40. It’s grown so much, when I get over there on the overpass and I see out, I’m going, ‘holy cow,’” Hunter said.

Even though the city is growing, Hunter believes Mt. Juliet still has a small town feel and he hopes it stays that way.

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