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Office: Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency – Director Odell “Hayden” Poyner | 234 West Blue Creek Road, Waverly, TN 37185 | (931) 296-3442 | [email protected] | Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 AM-4:30 PM
911: Humphreys County 911 – PO Box 553, 103 East Main Street, Waverly, TN 37185; established 1989 by referendum, Enhanced 911 online since 1992, shared facility with Waverly PD; dispatches for the Sheriff’s Office, county Fire Dept (5 districts), Waverly/McEwen/New Johnsonville police and fire.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Humphreys County has a documented, painful history with disaster response – the community has experienced the 1978 Waverly train/propane explosion, a 2021 flood that killed 20 people, and a 2025 AES Plant explosion that killed 16 – confirm current recovery resources directly if relevant to your situation.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-40 and US-70 serve Waverly, the county seat, in western Middle Tennessee
Transit: No dedicated county-wide public transit system was found in this search – confirm directly with the county or your city
Notes: Humphreys County was established in 1809 from parts of Stewart County, named for jurist and later U.S. Congressman Parry Wayne Humphreys. The county seat was initially Reynoldsburg; it moved to Waverly in 1835 when western county lands split off to form Benton County. Waverly, founded by Steven Pavatt, is named for Sir Walter Scott’s “Waverley Novels.”
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Humphreys County Building/Permits – confirm current contact via humphreystn.com.
Notes: Humphreys County holds a genuinely significant and tragic piece of American disaster-response history. On February 22, 1978, a Louisville & Nashville train carrying 23 derailed cars – including two propane tankers – wrecked in downtown Waverly. Two days later, on February 24, as cleanup crews worked the site, one tanker’s 22,000+ pounds of liquid propane exploded in a BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion), killing 16 people including Waverly’s police and fire chiefs, injuring 43 more, and destroying much of the town’s historic downtown. The disaster genuinely reshaped U.S. hazardous-materials policy: Tennessee created the Hazardous Materials Institute in 1980 for responder training (with zero Tennessee hazmat-responder deaths since), and the incident is documented as one of the events that helped push the creation of FEMA under President Carter in 1979. The Waverly Train Explosion Museum, a free self-guided memorial, is open year-round (7:30 AM-8:30 PM). Separately, Humphreys County is genuinely home to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in the unincorporated community of Hurricane Mills – a 3,500-acre property the country legend and her husband Mooney bought in 1966, now the Hurricane Mills Rural Historic District (listed on the National Register), including a working 1897-1910 grist mill, historic dam, and steel truss bridge, and a museum of Lynn memorabilia.
State: Tennessee Department of Veterans Services – tn.gov/veteran
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Humphreys County Public Library – 201 Pavo Avenue, Waverly, TN 37185 | (931) 296-2143 | [email protected] | Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 AM-5 PM (closed Saturdays in summer); serving the county since 1942.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Loretta Lynn’s Ranch and the Waverly Train Explosion Museum (see above) are the county’s two premier heritage destinations. Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge offer real fishing, boating, and outdoor recreation.
Notes: Both the Loretta Lynn Ranch heritage and the Waverly disaster history are distinctive, historically significant, and genuinely checkable facts covered here.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Humphreys County Assessor of Property – confirm current phone via humphreystn.com.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Waverly Animal Shelter – 108 Young Road, Waverly, TN 37185 | employed by the City of Waverly, serving Waverly, McEwen, New Johnsonville, and Humphreys County broadly; works in partnership with the Humphreys County Humane Society. Adoption fees: cats $50, dogs $65 (includes spay/neuter, first shots, wormer, and Frontline).
Nonprofit partner: Humphreys County Humane Society – 108 Young Road, Waverly, TN 37185 | [email protected].
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Humphreys County Solid Waste – confirm current contact via humphreystn.com.
NOTES: Humphreys County is the first county in this batch (Humphreys, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Lake, Lauderdale) of the Tennessee v2 redo. The genuine, historically significant 1978 Waverly train disaster and its lasting impact on national hazmat policy, alongside the real Loretta Lynn Ranch heritage, are distinctive facts covered here – the county’s more recent (2021, 2025) disasters are handled with care given their proximity and severity. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Humphreys County County
Humphreys County is Middle Tennessee’s flood-resilient Tennessee River county – the devastating 2021 flash flood that killed 20 Waverly residents and the community’s determined rebuilding define a county whose resilience and Tennessee River access anchor its identity in the rolling hills between Nashville and Kentucky Lake.
Waverly (the county seat, population ~4,200) is Humphreys County’s governmental and commercial hub on the Trace Creek, a Middle Tennessee river community that has rebuilt from the 2021 disaster with remarkable community determination.
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Humphreys County Assessor of Property at 102 Thompson Street, Waverly, TN 37185, phone 931-296-7696. TN assessed at a percentage of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Humphreys County Circuit Court at 102 Thompson Street, Waverly, TN 37185, phone 931-296-7696, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
102 Thompson St, Waverly, TN 37185
(931) 296-2461
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Humphreys County Clerk and Master, Waverly (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Humphreys County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Clerk and Master, Humphreys County Rawlings Building, Room 1, 102 Thompson Street, Waverly, TN 37185 (931) 296-2558 Humphreys County is in Middle Tennessee, seated in Waverly.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Tennessee has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Instead, Tennessee uses its own common form and solemn form probate framework, governed by Title 30 of the Tennessee Code Annotated. In Humphreys County, the Clerk and Master (part of Chancery Court) administers probate.
Small Estate Affidavit (T.C.A. §§ 30-4-101 through 30-4-103) – available when the value of the probate estate does not exceed $50,000 (personal property; real property is generally excluded). The affidavit can be filed no sooner than 45 days after death. A bond payable to the state is commonly required to protect creditors and other heirs, though it is often waived when the person filing is the estate’s sole heir/beneficiary, or when all heirs consent in writing.
Common Form Probate – the standard, uncontested path: the will (if any) is admitted to probate without formal notice to all interested parties, and the personal representative is appointed and issued Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without a will).
Solemn Form Probate – used when formal proof of the will’s validity is needed, typically because of an anticipated will contest; requires notice to all interested parties and a hearing.
Muniment of Title – used to transfer real estate when there is a valid will but no other assets requiring administration.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative (or an interested party) files the original will (if one exists) and a Petition for Probate of Will or Petition for Letters of Administration with the Humphreys County Clerk and Master.
The court issues Letters Testamentary (testate) or Letters of Administration (intestate), giving the personal representative authority to act.
The personal representative publishes notice to creditors in a local newspaper; creditors generally have a limited window (commonly around 4 months from the notice) to file claims.
The personal representative inventories and appraises the estate’s assets (may be waived by the will or by all beneficiaries).
The personal representative pays valid debts, expenses, and taxes.
The estate is closed with a final accounting (unless waived) and distribution to beneficiaries or heirs.
What it costs
Filing fees vary by county; confirm current fees with Humphreys County directly.
Tennessee has no statutory fee schedule for attorneys or executors – fees must be “reasonable” and are subject to court approval if contested.
Tennessee does NOT impose a state estate tax or a state inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax may apply, and only to very large estates.
Typical timeline for a simple, uncontested estate: roughly 6-9 months.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
102 Thompson St, Waverly, TN 37185
(931) 296-2244
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTION COMMISSION
102 Thompson St, Waverly, TN 37185
(931) 296-7674
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health Department
1004 Highway 13 South, Waverly, TN 37185
(931) 296-2325
DHS Office
1004 Highway 13 South, Waverly, TN 37185
(931) 296-2225
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Humphreys County Health Department – confirm current contact via humphreystn.com.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Waverly
Population: 19,000
Public Records
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