Tennessee State...
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Tennessee Counties
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Carter County, Tennessee
Carter County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Elizabethton
Year Organized: 1796
Square Miles: 341 |
Court House: 801 Elk Avenue
County Courthouse
Elizabethton, TN 37643-4537
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
Named in honor of Landon Carter (1760-1800), treasurer of Washington and Hamilton districts of North Carolina, speaker of the State of Franklin senate and its secretary of state, militia officer.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
Census Bureau Quick Facts
History of Carter County
Created 1796 from Washington County; named in honor of Landon Carter (1760-1800), treasurer of Washington and Hamilton districts of North Carolina, speaker of the State of Franklin senate and its secretary of state, militia officer.
Carter County was formed in 1796 from Washington County.
(Acts of Tennessee 1796 [March Session], Chapter 31).
There was a fire at the Carter County courthouse in 1933.
Carter County is located in the northeast corner of Tennessee. It was created from Washington County in 1796 and
named in honor of Landon Carter, treasurer of the Washington and Hamilton Districts of North Carolina and the State
of Franklin's Speaker of the Senate and Secretary of State. Carter County's 348 square miles blend mountains, the
Watauga and Doe Rivers, and beautiful valleys into an inspiring Appalachian landscape. The Appalachian Trail passes
through the county and most of eastern Carter County is within the Cherokee National Forest. Roan Mountain State
Park, at the county's border with North Carolina, is one of the most beloved scenic spots in the state. The county’s
population in 2000 was 56,742.
Carter County is extremely significant in Tennessee's settlement history. Permanent settlers arrived along the
Watauga River in the late 1760s; William Bean was one of the earliest, and his farm was eight miles west of the
Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River. James Robertson established a river valley farm in 1770 and stayed there until
moving to the Cumberland River in 1779. Valentine Sevier Sr., the father of John Sevier, lived near Sycamore Shoals.
Also in the early 1770s John Carter established his plantation just north of present-day Elizabethton. This notable
Revolutionary War patriot was the father of Landon Carter, for whom the county is named. In 1772 the settlers along
the Watauga River established the Watauga Association, and three years later, in 1775, land speculator Richard
Henderson and Cherokee leaders met at Sycamore Shoals to negotiate the Transylvania Purchase. During the American
Revolution Fort Watauga provided refuge from attacks by Old Abram and other Cherokee warriors. In 1780 approximately
eleven hundred Overmountain Men gathered at Sycamore Shoals before marching to Kings Mountain. The Sycamore Shoals
State Historic Area preserves key historical places, including the Overmountain Men muster ground, the Shoals, the
reconstructed Fort Watauga, and the John and Landon Carter Mansion.
Find more from the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture:
CARTER COUNTY
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 348 square miles (900 kmē), of which, 341
square miles (883 kmē) of it is land and 7 square miles (17 kmē) of it (1.89%) is water.
Neighboring Counties:
- Sullivan County (north)
- Johnson County (northeast)
- Avery County, North Carolina (southeast)
- Mitchell County, North Carolina (south)
- Unicoi County (southwest)
- Washington County (west)
Cities and Towns:
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- Elizabethton
(County
Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Watauga |
city |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally,
act locally." |
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Penn Foster High School
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