Cocke County, Tennessee

Cocke County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Newport
Year Organized: 1797
Square Miles: 434

Court House:

360 E. Main Street
County Courthouse Annex
Newport, TN 37821

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named in honor of William Cocke (1748-1828), Revolutionary and War of 1812 soldier, member of legislatures of Virginia, North Carolina, State of Franklin, Territory South of the River Ohio, Tennessee and Mississippi; Chickasaw Indian Agent.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History of Cocke County

Created 1797 from Jefferson County; named in honor of William Cocke (1748-1828), Revolutionary and War of 1812 soldier, member of legislatures of Virginia, North Carolina, State of Franklin, Territory South of the River Ohio, Tennessee and Mississippi; Chickasaw Indian Agent.

Cocke County was formed in 1810 from Jefferson County
(Acts of Tennessee 1797, Chapter 8).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 443 square miles (1,148 km²), of which, 434 square miles (1,125 km²) of it is land and 9 square miles (23 km²) of it (1.97%) is water. Part of the county is within the boundaries of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The county's highest point is Old Black at 1,942 meters (6,370 ft).

In 1797 the Tennessee General Assembly created Cocke County from Jefferson County, naming the new county in honor of William Cocke, a Revolutionary War soldier who supported the establishment of the State of Franklin, helped write Tennessee's first state constitution, and served as one of the state's initial U.S. senators. Cocke County, in upper East Tennessee, rests against the Great Smoky Mountains and is traversed by the French Broad and Big Pigeon Rivers. The first white settler was John Gilliland, who planted a corn crop at the mouth of the Pigeon River in 1783 to establish his claim to the land. Although Cocke County settlers had few violent encounters with Native Americans, most early settlers located near one of several forts in the area: William Whitson's fort, Abraham McKay's fort, Wood's fort, or John Huff's fort.

The creation of Cocke County gave local citizens better access to courts, and made it easier to attend general musters and elections. The first county court was held in the home of Daniel Adams. After some controversy, the county seat was located on fifty acres of land on the French Broad River donated by John Gilliland, the son of the original settler. The town was named New Port, and construction began immediately on a log courthouse. In 1828 a new brick courthouse was built.

Find more from the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture: COCKE COUNTY

Neighboring Counties:

Hamblen County (north)
Greene County (northeast)
Madison County, North Carolina (east)
Haywood County, North Carolina (south)
Sevier County (southwest)
Jefferson County (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Newport (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Parrottsville	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

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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