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.
Warren County was created in 1807 from a portion of White County, and named for Joseph Warren who lived from 1741 to 1775. Warren was a soldier in the American Revolution. The revised Tennessee State Constitution of 1834 stated that no new county could be within 12 miles of the county seat of the county from which it was formed. The county today has a total area of 434 square miles and a population count of 40,878 residents.
Washington County is Tennessee’s oldest county, having been established in 1777 when the state was still part of North Carolina. When the county was established, it was originally part of the Washington District, which is now all of Tennessee. Washington County was named after the first U.S. President, George Washington. The county has a total area of 330 square miles and a population count of 129,375 residents.
Weakley County was created in October 1823 from some of the lands that the Chickasaw ceded to the United States in the Treaty of 1818. The county was named after Colonel Robert Weakley, a member of the House of Representatives, a speaker of the State Senate, and the man commissioned to treat with the Chickasaw. The county has a total area of 582 square miles with a population count of 33,415 residents.
The Tennessee General Assembly created Williamson County on October 26, 1799, from a portion of Davidson County. This territory had long been inhabited by at least five Native American cultures, including tribes of Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Shawnee. The county is named after Hugh Williamson, a North Carolina politician who signed the U.S. Constitution. The county has a population of 238,412 residents calling the 584 square mileage county home.
Wilson County was created in 1799 from a portion of Sumner County and was named after former Major David Wilson. Wilson was a Revolutionary War veteran and statesman. The county was the site of an important saltpeter mine. Saltpeter is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from Valley Cave. The county today has a total area of 583 square miles with a population count of 144,657 residents.
