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Greene County, Tennessee

Andrew Johnson’s Greeneville, the Nolichucky valley, Tusculum, the Cherokee National Forest and the Appalachian Trail on the North Carolina line.

Formed 1783Seat: GreenevilleVisitor directory ↓Area news ↓

Checked Oct 27, 2026 · sources at the bottom

Visitor directory

Greene County directory

Andrew Johnson’s Greeneville and the national historic site downtown, Tusculum, the Nolichucky River valley, the Cherokee National Forest’s Paint Creek and Horse Creek areas, the Appalachian Trail on the North Carolina line, and the Lick Creek Bottoms birding refuge.

Cities: Greeneville (county seat) · Tusculum · Mosheim · Baileyton

Communities: Afton · Chuckey · Mohawk · Midway · Camp Creek · Ottway · DeBusk · Cedar Creek · Caney Branch · Fall Branch (also Washington)

Official tourism, parks & attractions

Tourism

Parks & outdoors

Government

Local resources

Schools, libraries & hospitals — coming soon. We’ll add official district and facility links county by county.

Checked Oct 28, 2026 · official sites only · phone numbers copied from each agency’s own page — tap ⓘ to confirm. In an emergency, call 911.

Area news

Headlines from local outlets · Greene County

  • WGRV · Oct 28, 2026

    TNECD and Points Consulting will study housing needs in Greene and 13 other counties, including Cocke, Sullivan and Unicoi, with a site visit and a customized review.

    Read at WGRV →
  • WGRV · Oct 28, 2026

    Secretary of State Tre Hargett visited the Election Commission Tuesday; the final early-voting day is Thursday, 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

    Read at WGRV →
  • The Greeneville Sun · Oct 28, 2026

    Trick-or-treating along Main Street runs 4–6 p.m., with street closures from 3:30 to 6:15 p.m. and a costume contest at the Kathryn Leonard Administrative Building.

    Read at The Greeneville Sun →
  • WGRV · Oct 27, 2026

    The Greeneville Water Commission approved applying for a $3 million USDA Rural Development grant to help pay its local FEMA match for repairs at the flood-damaged intake on the Nolichucky.

    Read at WGRV →
  • WGRV · Oct 23, 2026

    Classes are underway in the new $34 million TCAT building on East Andrew Johnson Highway; the Phil and Martha Bachman Foundation committed $12 million for an automotive training facility.

    Read at WGRV →
  • WATE 6 · Oct 13, 2026

    Turn-lane extensions at U.S. 11E and Rufe Taylor Road close one lane each way between Crockett Crossing/Erwin Highway and Harlan Street on weekdays 8 a.m.–4 p.m.; the Town expects to finish the week of Nov. 9.

    Read at WATE 6 →

Short summaries in our words — tap through to read the full story at the outlet. All area news → · Outlet requests: [email protected]

A short history

Settlers from North Carolina began arriving about 1772, when Jacob Brown and a few families camped on the Nolichucky River; in 1775 Brown leased a large tract from the Cherokees. Greene County, then part of North Carolina, was established in 1783 and named for General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island, under whom many settlers had fought in the Revolution. It joined Sullivan and Washington counties in the State of Franklin movement, and the split that led to Franklin’s end came at the 1785 constitutional convention held at Greeneville.

Presbyterian ministers shaped early schooling: Hezekiah Balch founded Greeneville College in 1794, and in 1818 Samuel Doak and his son Samuel Witherspoon Doak opened the school that became Tusculum; the two colleges later merged. Ebenezer Church, organized by the Earnest family in 1792, is tied to the beginnings of Methodism in Tennessee, and the Quaker New Hope Meeting dates to 1795. Andrew Johnson came to Greeneville from North Carolina as a runaway apprentice, opened a tailor shop and served as alderman and mayor before becoming governor, senator, vice president and, after Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, the seventeenth president. His tailor shop, his South Main Street home and his grave on Monument Hill make up the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site.

The county was largely Unionist, and delegates met at the Greeneville Convention of 1861 in the weeks before the Civil War. General James Longstreet put Confederate troops in winter quarters at Greeneville after the 1863 battle of Knoxville, and Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan was killed in Greeneville in September 1864. Burley tobacco and later dairying — Pet Milk opened a plant in 1928 — built the town’s Victorian commercial district along the Southern Railway; the 1884 Brumley Hotel was restored as the General Morgan Inn. In 2024 Hurricane Helene’s flooding on the Nolichucky closed the David Crockett Birthplace State Park and damaged the Greeneville Water Commission’s river intake, and recovery work continues.

Read the full East Tennessee history →

Towns & communities

  • Greeneville — county seat; Andrew Johnson National Historic Site and the historic downtown
  • Tusculum — city around Tusculum University, east of Greeneville
  • Mosheim — town in western Greene County
  • Baileyton — town in northern Greene County
  • Afton (community) — east of Greeneville; home of the county health department
  • Camp Creek (community) — southeast of Greeneville toward the Cherokee National Forest

Our place stories in and near Greene County

    Go deeper

    Neighboring counties: Cocke County · Hamblen County · Hawkins County · Unicoi County · Washington County · All counties →

    Official visitor links

    Checked Oct 27, 2026 · hours, fees and events live on these pages.

    Videos

    Video stories for Greene County are on the way.

    Sources

    Checked Oct 27, 2026 · We summarize; follow these for the full history. No hours or fees on this page — check official sites before you go.