Anderson County was partitioned from portions of Grainger, Knox, Roane and, Anderson in 1801. Roane county was also made from portion of Knox County effectively making Anderson and Roane sister counties. Anderson County was named in honor of Joseph Anderson who lived from 1757 to 1847. He was at that time a U.S. senator from Tennessee and his career also included a judge of the Superior Court of the Territory South of the River Ohio and Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury. The county has a total area of 345 sqaure miles with a population count of almost 77,000 residents.