[7] Sparta grew quickly due to its location along the stage road between Knoxville and Nashville.

In the 1830s, brothers Barlow and Madison Fisk built the Sparta Rock House, which served as an inn along the stage road.

The Rock House, strategically situated in an area where the Cumberland Plateau gives way to the Calfkiller valley, was a common stopover for figures important to the early history of the state, including Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston.

The Calfkiller River traverses Sparta north-to-south en route to its confluence with the Caney Fork several miles to the south.

State Route 111, which traverses the western part of Sparta, connects the city with Cookeville to the north and Spencer to the south.

State Route 84 winds its away up the Calfkiller Valley, connecting Sparta with Monterey atop the Plateau to the northeast.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.3 square miles (16 km2), all land.

Under the Trewartha system, it is a borderline humid subtropical (Cf) and oceanic (Do) climate, supported by the fact that subtropical plants like Southern Magnolia and the occasional Needle Palm can reach their full potential here but struggle much further north.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,001 people, 1,697 households, and 1,035 families residing in the city.