Unicoi County was created in 1875 from portions of Washington and Carter counties. Its first settlers had arrived more than a century earlier but the population had been small. The county remained predominantly agrarian until the railroads were constructed in the area in the 1880s. The county was named Unicoi, the Native American term meaning “fog draped.” Unicoi has a total area of 186 square miles and a population count of 17,761 residents.