[5] Brighton was established in the year 1873, along the newly completed tracts of the Memphis and Paducah Railroad upon the lands of A. W. Smith, Sr. who gave the initial five acres for the Depot grounds.

By the late 1870s, Brighton had two dry goods stores, three grocery stores, two saloons, two blacksmith shops, two wagon shops, one brick yard, one steam saw and grist mill, one steam cotton gin, a Baptist church, two physicians, and a population of approximately 100.

In 1883, the veterans of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, Confederate States of America made Brighton the permanent site of their annual reunion.

The Tipton County Confederate Veterans Reunion, as it came to be known, continued to be held at Brighton until 1940.

Brighton was incorporated by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1913 and the town today continues to operate under the same charter.

[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.7 square miles (7.0 km2), all land.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,888 people, 987 households, and 723 families residing in the town.