Unicoi County, Tennessee

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

County Seat: Erwin
Year Organized: 1875
Square Miles: 186

Court House:

P.O. Box 169
County Courthouse
Erwin, TN 37650-0169

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The name of which, shared with the Southern Appalachian mountains in the area, probably derives from an Indian word "u'nika" meaning white, foglike, or fog-draped.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History of Unicoi County

Created 1875 from Washington and Carter counties, the name of which, shared with the Southern Appalachian mountains in the area, probably derives from an Indian word "u'nika" meaning white, fog-like, or fog-draped.

Unicoi County was formed in 1875 from Carter and Washington counties. (Public Acts of Tennessee 1875, Chapter 68).

Located in the mountains of upper East Tennessee, Unicoi County covers approximately 186 square miles, of which approximately 50 percent is owned by the U.S. government. Unicoi is a Cherokee word meaning "white," "hazy," "fog-like," or "fog draped." The county's principal waterway, the Nolichucky River, originates at the point where the North Toe River joins the Cane River in North Carolina. Nolichucky Gorge is now a popular center for white water rafting.

Settlers arrived in the late 1770s and quickly established farms and churches. The area that is now Unicoi County was part of Washington and Carter counties until March 23, 1875, when the Tennessee General Assembly created the new county. The county court took office in January 1876. Erwin, which was centrally located, became the county seat. The town had existed under various names including Unaka (1832), Longmire (1840), and Vanderbilt (1976). In December 1879, the name was changed to Ervin, in honor of David J. N. Ervin, who had donated fifteen acres for the county seat. A mistake by postal officials, which was never corrected, recorded the name as Erwin

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

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 186 square miles (483 km²), of which, 186 square miles (482 km²) of it is land and 0 square miles (1 km²) of it (0.19%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Washington County (north)
Carter County (northeast)
Mitchell County, North Carolina (east)
Yancey County, North Carolina (south)
Madison County, North Carolina (southwest)
Greene County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Erwin (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Unicoi	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."