Local custom has long recognized three distinct divisions of the state--represented in the three stars of the state flag. Historically these areas developed very different lifestyles reflecting the broad geological and topographic characteristics of the state. West Tennessee is generally associated with the ancient floodplain and earlier delta of the Mississippi River around Memphis and has been associated with a plantation-like agricultural life. Middle Tennessee has been associated with the mixed farming and husbandry associated with the rolling hills and fertile river drainages of the Cumberland, Duck, and Elk Rivers and their associatate tributaries. East Tennessee has been associated with the folkways and special agricultural style of the Appalachian mountains.
The three divisions are geographically determined by the Tennessee River which cuts the state from Knoxville to Chattanooga where it dips into Alabama only to turn northward again and exit the state in the northwest corner. The area of the counties along and east of the upper Tennessee River is called East Tennessee; the area which includes the counties along and west of the lower Tennessee is called West Tennessee. The general area within the river is called Middle Tennessee. Franklin County is considered to be in "Middle Tennessee."