When people refer to the place where they live they usually
speak of it as.a "city" or "town." Generally, we regard a small
community as a "town" and the larger community as a "city." In
some other states people are accustomed to calling the smaller
places "villages" and "boroughs," but this is not the custom in
Tennessee. The purpose of this paper is to describe briefly the
government of cities and towns in Tennessee. Each one has a
government, just as the State has a government. An effort will
be made to outline the principal differences among city and town
governments. Hobday, Victor C., "A Brief Description of
Tennessee Municipal Government" (1955). MTAS History.