Hamilton County, Tennessee

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

County Seat: Chattanooga
Year Organized: 1819
Square Miles: 542

Court House:

201 Seventh Street
County Courthouse
Chattanooga, TN 37402-1705

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named in honor of Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), American statesman, Revolutionary War soldier, member of the Continental Congress and secretary of the US treasury under President Washington.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History of Hamilton County

Created 1819 from Rhea County and Indian lands; named in honor of Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), American statesman, Revolutionary War soldier, member of the Continental Congress and secretary of the US treasury under President Washington.

Hamilton County was formed in 1819 from Rhea County and Indian lands. (Private Acts of Tennessee 1819, Chapter 41).

James County was formed in 1871 from Bradley and Hamilton counties. It was abolished in 1919 and incorporated into Hamilton County where its records are held. The county seat was Ooltewah.

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 about by a treaty with the Cherokees in 1817. By the terms of the Hiwassee Purchase, the Indians yielded large sections of Alabama and Georgia, as well as the Sequatchie Valley and the area that became Hamilton County. Initially, Hamilton County did not extend south of the Tennessee River. This area, including the site of Cherokee Chief John Ross's landing in present-day Chattanooga, did not become a part of the county until the disputed Treaty of 1835 that led to Indian removal and the "Trail of Tears." The county was named in honor of Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury in George Washington's administration. Hamilton was the name of the district of which this section had formerly been a part.

This beautiful region, where the Tennessee River winds through the convergence of several mountain ranges, was the last stronghold of the Cherokees. When their valiant effort to retain their homeland failed, Ross's Landing became one of the main staging areas for the trek west.

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

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 576 square miles (1,491 km²), of which, 542 square miles (1,405 km²) of it is land and 33 square miles (86 km²) of it (5.78%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Bledsoe County, Tennessee - north
Rhea County, Tennessee - northeast
Meigs County, Tennessee - northeast
Bradley County, Tennessee - east
Whitfield County, Georgia - southeast
Catoosa County, Georgia - south
Walker County, Georgia - south
Dade County, Georgia - southwest
Marion County, Tennessee - west
Sequatchie County, Tennessee - northwest

Hamilton County is one of the few counties in the United States to border 10 other counties.

Cities and Towns:

- Chattanooga (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Collegedale	city	Incorporated Area
- East Ridge	city	Incorporated Area
- Lakesite	city	Incorporated Area
- Lookout Mountain	town	Incorporated Area
- Red Bank	city	Incorporated Area
- Ridgeside	city	Incorporated Area
- Signal Mountain	town	Incorporated Area
- Walden	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."

Penn Foster High School

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