History of Henderson County Tennessee United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Henderson County Tennessee, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Local History Notes:

Henderson County History

Henderson County was erected on November 7, 1821, from the Western District, and named in honor of Col. James Henderson.

The earliest settler was Joseph Reel who, in 1818, located on Beech River, about five miles east of Lexington. Not long after this Abner Taylor located near the site of Lexington.

The first execution in the county was that of a slave woman who drowned the daughter of Dr. John A. Wilson.

Lexington was selected as the county seat in 1822, on land previously owned by Samuel Wilson.

Statistics of Henderson County: Population, 1920, 18,436. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $6,561,186. Area, 530 square miles. Number of farms, 3,290. Railway mileage, 42. Drained by tributaries of Tennessee. Surface generally level and well timbered in some portions. Soil fertile in valleys and river bottoms. Leading product is cotton, and other staples are corn, grass, and live stock. Lexington, the county seat, has a population of 1,792, and is on the N. C. & St. L. Railway, which traverses the county. It has good schools, churches, two weekly newspapers, two banks, electric light plant, stave factory, and a number of prosperous stores. Scholastic population of county, 8,198; high school, 1; elementary schools, 85.

From: Moore, John Trotwood. Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923. Vol. 1. Chicago, IL, USA: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.

History of Henderson County Tennessee

Local History Notes:

Local History and Genealogy Links: