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Jefferson County, Tennessee

Dandridge’s 1845 courthouse on Douglas Lake, Jefferson City’s Mossy Creek district and Carson-Newman University, Glenmore Mansion, and the Cherokee Lake shore.

Formed 1792Seat: DandridgeVisitor directory ↓Area news ↓

Checked Oct 27, 2026 · sources at the bottom

Visitor directory

Jefferson County directory

Dandridge’s 1845 courthouse and historic Main Street on Douglas Lake, Jefferson City’s Mossy Creek district and Carson-Newman University, Glenmore Mansion, Bush’s Visitor Center in Chestnut Hill, and the Jefferson County shore of Cherokee Lake.

Cities: Dandridge (county seat) · Jefferson City · White Pine (also Hamblen) · New Market · Baneberry · Morristown (also Hamblen)

Communities: Strawberry Plains (also Knox & Sevier) · Talbott (also Hamblen) · Chestnut Hill · Piedmont · Shady Grove · Mount Horeb · Swannsylvania

Official tourism, parks & attractions

Tourism

Parks & outdoors

Attractions

  • Historic Downtown Dandridge ↗The county seat, named for Martha Dandridge Washington, with the 1845 Jefferson County Courthouse and its county history museum (202 W Main St, Room 203 · 865-397-4904) on Main Street beside Douglas Lake.
  • Bush’s Visitor Center ↗Bush Brothers’ visitor center in Chestnut Hill, home of Bush’s Beans · 3901 US Hwy 411, Dandridge · free · check hours before you go.
  • Historic Mossy Creek District (Mossy Creek Foundation) ↗Jefferson City’s original Mossy Creek downtown, site of the Dec. 29, 1863 Battle of Mossy Creek; the foundation runs the ghost tours, Mossy Creek Station events and the community calendar.
  • Carson-Newman University ↗Church-supported university founded in 1851 in Jefferson City · 865-471-2000.

Museums & history

  • Glenmore Mansion ↗Second Empire mansion built in 1868 by John Roper Branner, shown as a public house museum · 1280 N Chucky Pike, Jefferson City · (865) 475-5014 · tours May through October; Christmas at Glenmore the first two weekends of December.

Government

Shared with neighboring counties

Local resources

  • Emergency (police · fire · EMS)911Call 911 for any emergency.
  • Jefferson County 9-1-1 non-emergency dispatch865-475-6855Emergency Communications District · administration 865-475-4911 ⓘ source
  • Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office865-471-6000Sheriff and jail · Sheriff Jeff Coffey ⓘ source
  • Jefferson County EMS & Emergency Management865-471-9001581 W Old Andrew Johnson Hwy, Jefferson City · storm and disaster information · for emergencies call 911 ⓘ source
  • Jefferson Memorial Hospital (Tennova)(865) 471-2500110 Hospital Dr, Jefferson City · 24/7 emergency department ⓘ source
  • Jefferson County Health Department865-397-3930931 Industrial Park Rd, Dandridge ⓘ source
  • Jefferson County Mayor’s Office865-397-3800214 W Main St, Dandridge · Mayor Randy Bales ⓘ source
  • Jefferson County Schools865-397-31941221 Gay St, Dandridge — calendars, closings ⓘ source
  • Jefferson County Election Commission865-397-3440760 Justice Center Dr, Suite B, Dandridge · Election Day Tue Nov 3, 9 AM–8 PM ⓘ source
  • Veterans Services865-397-7824760 Justice Center Dr, Dandridge ⓘ source
  • Highway emergency (cell)*THP (*847)Tennessee Highway Patrol ⓘ source
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 · Jefferson County

  • The Standard Banner · Oct 22, 2026

    Dandridge gave final approval to mixed-use zoning for 64 acres at I-40 Exit 417; commercial plans can move ahead while the homes wait on a town water study.

    Read at The Standard Banner →
  • The Standard Banner · Oct 22, 2026

    Construction is under way on the new $4.2 million Dandridge Memorial Library at 1135 Academy Circle, due to be finished by the end of June 2027.

    Read at The Standard Banner →
  • The Standard Banner · Oct 22, 2026

    Jefferson City is weighing a pause on water service to new developments while it tests replacement membrane systems at its water plant; the pilot programs go to a Council vote Nov. 2.

    Read at The Standard Banner →
  • The Standard Banner · Oct 22, 2026

    American Legion Post 113 in Jefferson City hosted the Legion's national commander, John W. "Jay" Bowen, for a First District meeting on Oct. 17.

    Read at The Standard Banner →
  • WVLT 8 · Oct 19, 2026

    The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce says it will shut down after the County Commission's Budget Committee declined its request for $90,000 in temporary bridge funding.

    Read at WVLT 8 →

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

Jefferson County was created by Territorial Governor William Blount on June 11, 1792, from Greene and Hawkins counties, and named for Thomas Jefferson; from 1784 to 1788 the area had been Caswell County in the State of Franklin. The first county covered about 1,200 square miles between the Holston River on the north and the French Broad, which runs through it — North Carolinians came down the French Broad and Virginians down the Holston. Sevier (1795), Cocke (1797) and Hamblen (1870) counties were later carved partly from it.

Settlement at Dandridge dates to 1783, and the town became the county seat. Sam Houston spent weeks there in the library of his cousin Cassie Paxton Moore, wife of Dandridge’s first physician, Dr. William Moore. Rivers carried the county’s corn, wheat and cattle to market until the railroad arrived in 1858. In the Civil War, Federal cavalry fought General James Longstreet’s Confederates at Dandridge on Christmas Eve 1863, days before the Battle of Mossy Creek in what is now Jefferson City; Carson-Newman, founded in 1851, recovered from wartime damage to become one of Tennessee’s largest church-supported colleges.

Canneries such as Stokely and Bush Brothers grew from the county’s farms in the early twentieth century. During World War II, TVA built Douglas Dam on the French Broad in a record 382 days to power aluminum production and the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge, flooding 40.5 square miles of the county’s best farmland. Zinc ore found in 1914 made Jefferson County the nation’s leading zinc producer from 1950 to 1995.

Read the full East Tennessee history →

Towns & communities

  • Dandridge — county seat, settled in 1783 and named for Martha Dandridge Washington
  • Jefferson City — largest town, originally Mossy Creek; home of Carson-Newman University
  • White Pine — eastern Jefferson town near the Hamblen line, with a sliver in Hamblen County
  • New Market — western Jefferson town between Jefferson City and Strawberry Plains
  • Baneberry — lake and golf-course town on Douglas Lake, incorporated in 1986
  • Morristown — Hamblen County seat, with a sliver inside Jefferson
  • Strawberry Plains (community) — western Jefferson community whose ZIP also covers parts of Knox and Sevier
  • Chestnut Hill (community) — southeastern Jefferson community, home of Bush’s Visitor Center

Our place stories in and near Jefferson County

    Go deeper

    Neighboring counties: Cocke County · Grainger County · Hamblen County · Knox County · Sevier County · All counties →

    Official visitor links

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

    Videos

    Video stories for Jefferson 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.