County History

The Tennessee General Assembly established DeKalb County in December 1837 and named it in honor of Johann DeKalb, a German general who died while serving in the American Revolution. The county seat was located on fifty acres donated by Bernard…

The Tennessee General Assembly formed Dickson County on October 25, 1803, from the counties of Montgomery and Robertson and named it in honor of Congressman William Dickson, a Nashville physician. An industrial county from its inception, Dickson County was part…

The Tennessee General Assembly established Dyer County in 1823 and named it in honor of Colonel Robert H. Dyer. John McIver and Joel H. Dyer donated sixty acres for the new county seat, named Dyersburg, at a central location within…

The Tennessee General Assembly established Fayette County on September 29, 1824, and named it in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, French general and statesman. The county seat, Somerville, was named to honor Lieutenant Robert Somerville, hero of the battle…

The Tennessee General Assembly created Fentress County from parts of Overton and Morgan Counties on November 28, 1823. The county was named in honor of James Fentress, the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, who had assisted in passing…

The Tennessee General Assembly established Franklin County in 1807, following the extinction of Cherokee claims west of the Cumberland Plateau between the Duck and Tennessee Rivers. Mountain lands were added after Native American claims ended in 1819. Franklin County was…

The Tennessee General Assembly created Gibson County on October 21, 1823, out of lands ceded by the Chickasaws in the Jackson Purchase. It was named in honor of Colonel John H. Gibson, who served under Andrew Jackson in the Natchez…

The Tennessee General Assembly created Giles County in 1809 from land once part of North Carolina. Andrew Jackson suggested the name "Giles" to the legislature in recognition of the strong support Congressman William Branch Giles had given to Tennessee in…

Grainger County holds the distinction as the only Tennessee county named for a woman, Mary Grainger Blount, the wife of Territorial Governor William Blount. The state legislature formed the county in 1796 from parts of Hawkins and Knox Counties, and…

Greene County lies in the Great Valley of Tennessee in the northeast corner of the state. Its valleys are enriched by the disintegrated limestone that lies below them. Bays Mountain, one of the three sets of high ridges that run…

The Tennessee General Assembly established Grundy County in 1844 from parts of Warren, Coffee, and later, Marion Counties. It was named in honor of Felix Grundy, a Virginian who migrated to Tennessee by way of Kentucky. Grundy served in both…

The third smallest in area among the ninety-five Tennessee counties, Hamblen County is located between the Holston and the Nolichucky Rivers in a fertile, well-watered valley sheltered from the north winds by Clinch Mountain and from southern storms by the…

The Tennessee General Assembly created Hamilton County on October 25, 1819. Rhea, Marion, and Bledsoe Counties bounded the new county, and it extended south to the state line. The creation of the new county on the southwestern frontier was brought…

One of the earliest settlement areas in Tennessee is Hancock County. In a 1673 letter to John Richard of London, Abraham Wood reported James Needham and Gabriel Arthur's journey into the area: "Eight dayes jorny down this river lives a…

Located in the upper plateaus of southwestern Tennessee near the headwaters of the Big Hatchie River, Hardeman County has an area of 655 square miles. The county was formed from the Jackson Purchase and attached to Hardin County, then to…

The story of Hardin County begins with the prehistoric mound builders of the Woodland and Mississippian Periods. Savannah, the modern county seat, is built partially within a wall and trench and amid a line of fourteen mounds on a bluff…

One of the oldest Tennessee counties, Hawkins County was first established as a separate North Carolina county on January 6, 1787, when the state legislature divided Sullivan County, North Carolina. The original county was quite large, extending from the North…

Named for Judge John Haywood, Haywood County was part of Madison County when the Tennessee General Assembly created it in 1823-24. Later, part of Haywood County was taken to create Lauderdale and Crockett Counties. The state legislature designated Brownsville as…

The Tennessee General Assembly created Henderson County on November 7, 1821, and named it in honor of Colonel James Henderson, who served under Andrew Jackson and commanded Tennessee troops at the battle of New Orleans. Several of the county's early…

The Tennessee General Assembly created Henry County on November 7, 1821, and named it in honor of Revolutionary War patriot and statesman, Patrick Henry. Henry County became the gateway for the settlement of West Tennessee and beyond. The Henry County…