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Hamilton County, Tennessee

Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the southern part of East Tennessee on the border with Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 366,207,[3] making it the fourth-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Chattanooga, located along the Tennessee River.[4] The county was named for Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury.

Hamilton County

 United States

October 25, 1819

Chattanooga

576 sq mi (1,490 km2)

542 sq mi (1,400 km2)

33 sq mi (90 km2)  5.8%

366,207 Increase

379,864 Increase

620/sq mi (240/km2)

3rd

Hamilton County is one of 95 counties within Tennessee.[5] Hamilton County is part of the Chattanooga, TN-GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county was created on October 25, 1819.[6] Hamilton County expanded to meet the state line with Georgia after absorbing parts of three different counties including Bledsoe, Marion, and Rhea. Part of the traditional Cherokee homeland, the county was created after the Cherokee signed a treaty in 1817 with the United States and ceded land north of the Hiwassee River. In the 21st century, Hamilton County is the eighth-highest income Tennessee location by per capita income ($26,588).

History[edit]

For thousands of years, indigenous cultures occupied this region, especially along the rivers and creeks. The area was long occupied by the historic Cherokee Nation. In the early 19th century, it was being led by John Ross. The city that is now known as Chattanooga developed at Ross's Landing, a busy trading post recognized as the center of the Cherokee Nation. Over a series of treaties with the United States between 1819 and 1835, the Cherokee had been mostly moved out of the area.


If any Cherokee wished to stay in the area, the head of the family would have to leave the tribe and become an American citizen. Once a citizen, they would be entitled to 640 acres (260 ha) of land. At the time of death, the person's heirs would be entitled to the land. Of the 107 reservations reported to Congress in 1819, only 39 were listed as fee simple. The other 68 reservations were allowed to continue as long as the family stayed on the land. Once the family moved, the land could be sold. This provision made it easier to remove the Cherokee from the area. The 1835 Treaty of New Echota provided the U.S. government a legal basis for the forced removal of the Cherokee, opening their former lands for settlement.[7][8] Some Cherokee leaders had agreed to this, in the belief that removal was inevitable and they could negotiate decent conditions for their people. The majority of the Cherokee opposed removal.


Hamilton County was formed on October 25, 1819, from portions of Rhea County and Cherokee land that was ceded to the U.S. It was named after Alexander Hamilton,[9] an officer in the American Revolutionary War, member of the Continental Congress, the first U.S. secretary of treasury, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.


At the time of the 1820 census, the county counted 821 residents, including 16 blacks, 39 slaves, and about 100 Cherokee living on six reservations. The original legislature ruled that John Gamble, William Lauderdale, and John Patterson, the three men who were responsible for founding the county, would conduct all county business in the county seat. The original county seat was in the home of Hasten Poe, who owned a popular tavern located near those three men's farms. In 1822 the County Court was moved to the farm of Ashael Rawlings in Dallas, Tennessee; he was the newly appointed county clerk. After the county seat was moved to Harrison, the Dallas settlement declined. The county seat was finally moved to Chattanooga in 1835.[7][8]


During the Civil War, Hamilton County was the site of an important saltpeter mine. This material is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from caves. Lookout Mountain Cave was a major source of saltpeter during the Civil War. The mine was operated by Robert Cravens, who owned the surrounding property. In May 1861, Cravens contracted with the Tennessee Military and Financial Board to deliver 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) of saltpeter. On May 24, he reported that he had ten hoppers already set up in his cave. Cravens was also mining Nickajack Cave in nearby Marion County. In 1862 he quit mining at Lookout Mountain Cave and rented the cave to the Confederate Nitre and Mining Bureau, which mined the cave from June 1862 through July 1863. This mining ceased when Chattanooga was occupied by federal forces in 1863.[10] They stayed through the end of the war.


After the war, Tennessee rejoined the Union, and the state started to recover from the war. The long occupation had caused a breakdown in civil society. James County was established by the Tennessee General Assembly in January 1871 and was named after Jesse J. James.[11] In early 1919 James County went bankrupt; it became a part of Hamilton County in April.[11]


As of the 2017 census, Hamilton County is the fourth-most populated county in the state, with a population of 361,613. The growth rate is 1% per year over the last five years. Hamilton County has census records dating to the 1830s. The average income of Hamilton County is $26,560.[12]

(part)

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

District 1: Gene-O Shipley

District 2: D.C. (Chip) Baker

District 3: Ken Smith

District 4: Warren Mackey

District 5: Greg Beck

District 6: David Sharpe

District 7: Lee Helton

District 8: Mike Chauncey

District 9: Steve Highlander

District 10: Jeff Eversole

District 11: Joe Graham

[24]

2018 Hamilton County, Tennessee mayoral election

2022 Hamilton County, Tennessee mayoral election

Mayoral elections in Chattanooga, Tennessee

website

Chattanooga State Community College

website

Southern Adventist University

website

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

website

Richmont Graduate University

Lookout Mountain

Signal Mountain

Walden

National Register of Historic Places listings in Hamilton County, Tennessee

Armstrong, Zella. The History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Savannah: Overmountain Press (1993).  0-932807-99-2

ISBN

Official site

– free genealogy resources for the county

Hamilton County, TNGenWeb

at Curlie

Hamilton County