Formed 1792 · Seat: Knoxville
Knox County
Tennessee’s first capital, TVA’s headquarters and the gateway city to the Smokies.
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Eight counties around Knoxville hold the Smokies, the first TVA dam, the Manhattan Project’s Secret City, and the river crossings and Cherokee towns at the heart of Tennessee’s story. These are short, sourced histories — each one links to the places we write about, with sources at the bottom so you can read further.
Counties
Formed 1792 · Seat: Knoxville
Tennessee’s first capital, TVA’s headquarters and the gateway city to the Smokies.
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Formed 1785 · 1794 · 1796 · Seat: Sevierville
“Three birthdays,” Clingmans Dome, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Dollywood.
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Formed 1795 · Seat: Maryville
Cades Cove, Townsend, Look Rock — and the company towns of Alcoa and Walland.
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Formed 1801 · Seat: Clinton
Norris Dam, the Secret City of Oak Ridge, the Coal Creek War and Clinton 1956.
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Formed 1801 · Seat: Kingston
Fort Southwest Point, Kingston’s day as state capital, Rockwood iron and temperance Harriman.
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Formed 1817 · Seat: Wartburg
Wartburg’s German-Swiss colony, Rugby, Brushy Mountain, Frozen Head and the Obed.
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Formed 1836 · Seat: Decatur
“The Shoreline County”: Blythe Ferry, Hiwassee Island and TVA’s Watts Bar and Chickamauga lakes.
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Formed 1870 · Seat: Loudon
Blair’s Ferry, Lenoir City, a Civil War bridge — and the Fort Loudoun and Tellico dams.
Read the county story →More East Tennessee counties coming: Monroe, Cumberland, Scott, Campbell, Union, Grainger, Jefferson, Cocke, Greene, Washington, Sullivan, Carter →
Deeper history
How East Tennessee settlers tried to form their own state — and what Franklin left behind in Sevier County and beyond.
Read →
From North Carolina’s overmountain counties to the Southwest Territory and statehood on June 1, 1796.
Read →The Cherokee story of the Water-beetle who brought up the earth, as recorded from Cherokee storytellers in the late 1880s.
Read →Tanasi (also written Tenasi), Overhill Cherokee town on the Little Tennessee, now beneath TVA’s Tellico Lake.
Read →
From our shop · My East Tennessee
Historic East Tennessee Counties Map
This map is available as a poster — buying one helps keep these guides free.
Buy the map poster →Counties on this map with a story so far: Knox County · Sevier County · Blount County · Anderson County · Roane County · Morgan County · Meigs County · Loudon County
County histories summarize the Tennessee Encyclopedia ↗ (Tennessee Historical Society) plus TVA, NPS and Tennessee State Parks pages · Checked Oct 27, 2026.