Rhea County is named for the Tennessee politician and Revolutionary War veteran John Rhea. A portion of the Trail of Tears ran through the county as part of the United States government’s removal of the Cherokee in the 1830s. During the American Civil War, Rhea County was one of the few counties in East Tennessee that was heavily sympathetic to the cause of the Confederate States of America. The county today has a population count of 33,040 residents calling the 336 square mileage county home.