Jackson County, Tennessee
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 11,617 at the 2020 census.[2] Its county seat is Gainesboro.[3] Jackson is part of the Cookeville Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Not to be confused with Jackson, Tennessee.
Jackson County
United States
1801
Gainesboro
320 sq mi (800 km2)
308 sq mi (800 km2)
11 sq mi (30 km2) 3.5%
11,617 
38/sq mi (15/km2)
History[edit]
Jackson County was created by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly on November 6, 1801. It was the 18th county established in the state. It was formed from part of Smith County plus Indian lands. The name honors Andrew Jackson, who by 1801 had already served as a U.S. Congressman and Senator from Tennessee, a Tennessee Supreme Court justice, and a colonel in the Tennessee militia. He became more widely known as commander at the Battle of New Orleans and as the seventh President of the United States.[4]
In the 1790s, an Army outpost named Fort Blount was built 10 miles (16 km) west of Gainesboro on the Cumberland River, in what is now western Jackson County. Fort Blount was an important stop for travelers on Avery's Trace. Williamsburg, a town developed around the fort, served as the Jackson County seat from 1807 to 1819.[5] The county's early records were all lost in a disastrous courthouse fire on August 14, 1872.[6]
The 1970 Movie "I Walk The Line" starring Gregory Peck was filmed in Gainesboro and Jackson County.