Bells

History

Bells was established in the late 1820s on land acquired by brothers John and William Bell. When a city was founded on this land in 1855, it was given the name "Bells Depot." The city was incorporated in 1868, and the "Depot" was dropped from the name in 1880. Bells was the home of the now-defunct West Tennessee Okra Festival. The festival included a horse show, beauty pageant, street carnival and other activities and shows. The Festival was always held during August, the peak of the okra season.

Geography

Bells is located at (35.718423, -89.085385). The city is concentrated around the intersection of a congruent stretch of U.S. Route 70A and U.S. Route 79, which approaches from Brownsville to the southwest and continues northeastwardly to Humboldt, and State Route 88, which connects the city to Alamo to the northwest and Jackson to the southeast. The South Fork of the Forked Deer River passes just south of Bells. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and 0.44% is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  688
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  611
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  556
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  553
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  546
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  528
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  526
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  454

Most recent

• M 2.63 — 2026-08-04
  6 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
• M 2.64 — 2026-05-15
  8 km NW of Tiptonville, Tennessee
• M 4 — 2026-04-23
  1 km WNW of Cooter, Missouri
• M 2.52 — 2025-12-30
  12 km WNW of Newbern, Tennessee
• M 2.59 — 2025-12-03
  1 km NNW of Cooter, Missouri
• M 2.73 — 2025-11-09
  7 km SE of Ridgely, Tennessee