Morristown is the county seat of Hamblen County. Located in East Tennessee in the Holston Valley, the area comprises a population of 58,128. Download a complete demographics report for Hamblen County.

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History of Morristown

In 1769, a rapid westward movement occurred after the first settlement in Tennessee. Today's Hamblen County lay directly in the path of this expansion. It is known that, by 1782, Hamblen County had its first settlers.

The area really started to grow when Charles McClung, in 1782, surveyed a road from White's Fort (Knoxville) eastward, mostly over the old Indian trail. This road became known as the "Big Road" which now is the basic path of 11-E. The road allowed a rapid development, along with the arrival, in 1856, of the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad. Only when the Civil War was fought, the area stopped to grow. By the late 1860's, people of the area were focusing their attention on the creation of a new county. Legend gives that Colonels I. P.Haun and Mark M. Murrell, with an unknown gentleman, were discussing the problems that they, along with others faced when it came to transportation, government, and communication with the county seats being so far apart. The discussion between the three men led to ideas that became the nucleus for the creation of a new county.

Petitions began circulating among the citizenry asking for the area to be recognized as a new county. The petitions were to be presented at the Tennessee General Assembly. This new county was to include the land of Grainger County lying south of the Holston River, and Jefferson County land that was over eleven miles northeast of Dandridge. A plot of the proposed new county was submitted on April 15, 1870, by Colonel O.R.Watkins, and a petition of 1,057 citizens was sent to the convention. The county was formed May 31, 1870. To secure the recommendation of State Senator William Green of Hawkins County, he was given the privilege of naming the new county after his grandfather, Hezekiah Hamblen. Later an act to add a small section from Hawkins County was passed on January 20, 1871.

By July of the year 1870, the new county had established a board of commissioners and was conducting business. Due to the size, central location, previous government experience, stockyards, railroad rolling stock, and being the local center of education,
Morristown was selected over contending Russellville as the county seat. The new county was divided into nine voting districts, and G. H. Boyd was chosen Hamblen County's first sheriff.

Source: From Hamblen County, Tennessee, by Jim Claborn and Bill Henderson; © 1995.