Campbell County, Tennessee
Campbell County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located on the state's northern border in East Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 39,272.[2] Its county seat is Jacksboro.[3] Campbell County is included in the Knoxville metropolitan statistical area.
Campbell County
United States
September 11, 1806
498 sq mi (1,290 km2)
480 sq mi (1,200 km2)
18 sq mi (50 km2) 3.6%
39,272 
81.82/sq mi (31.59/km2)
History[edit]
Campbell County was formed in 1806 from parts of Anderson and Claiborne Counties. It was named in honor of Colonel Arthur Campbell (1743–1811), a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and an officer during the American Revolutionary War.[4]
New Mammoth Cave, located in Elk Valley, approximately 10 miles southwest of Jellico, was mined for saltpeter (the main ingredient of gunpowder) during the War of 1812. This cave possibly was also mined during the Civil War. In 1921, the cave was developed as a tourist attraction and was open to the public until at least 1928. Today, New Mammoth Cave is securely gated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is protected as a sanctuary for bats, including the federally endangered Indiana bat.[5]
During the Civil War, the county's sympathies were predominantly with the Union. On June 8, 1861, voters in Campbell County rejected Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession by a vote of 1,094 to 60.[6] On August 1, 1861, Campbell County became the first Tennessee county to form a Union Army unit for the Civil War, organizing Company B of the 1st Tennessee Infantry at Jacksboro.[7]
Economy[edit]
Coal mining[edit]
The Cumberland Plateau section of Campbell County is part of the massive Appalachian coalfield that dominates much of Central Appalachia, thus the Jellico section of the county has more in common economically with southeastern Kentucky and West Virginia, whereas the southern parts of the county economically resemble East Tennessee. The coal seams near Jellico produced a slow-burning bituminous coal that helped make Campbell County Tennessee's largest coal-producing county in the early 20th century.
Tourism[edit]
Campbell County is home to Norris Lake and the Royal Blue Trails Complex. Much of Norris Lake is along its southern boundary, as well as several wildlife management areas such as the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area, which includes the Royal Blue Trails. Campbell County boasts 11 marinas on Norris Lake, drawing tens of thousands of visitors annually. The county is home to Lonus Young County Park on Norris Lake and four state parks: Cove Lake State Park near Caryville, Indian Mountain State Park near Jellico, Norris Dam State Park near Rocky Top, and the Cumberland Trail State Park coursing the mountaintops overlooking LaFollette, Jacksboro, and Caryville from Speedwell in the east to the southern reaches of the county near one of the last railroad water tanks near the Shea community. Over a million visitors frequent the Tennessee Welcome Center along I-75 at Jellico each year.