History of Scott County Tennessee United States of America

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Scott County was erected on December 17, 1849, out of parts of Anderson, Campbell, Fentress and Morgan counties, and was named for Gen. Winfield S. Scott. It was surveyed by Sampson Stanfield. By the act creating it a board of commissioners was appointed consisting of Wm. Titwood, W. W. Cotton, Wm. Massengale, Drury Smith, John Tipton, Wm. Rich, Thos. Lawson, Wm. Carney, and J. W. Kerns. This board appointed the following committee to locate the county seat: Isaac Reed, Baily Buttram, Jas. Litton, Riley Chambers, and Henry Massengale. They located the county seat at Huntsville, named in honor of a hunter of the early days whose name was Hunt.

The first election was held on March 2, 1850, and the following officers were elected: John Lewallen, sheriff; Allen McDonald, County Court clerk; John L. Smith, Circuit Court clerk; Isaac Reed, trustee; Riley Chambers, register.

The first court was held in July, 1850, by Judge Alexander and Attorney-General David H. Cummings.

The first courthouse was erected in 1851 and was used until 1874, when a new courthouse was built. This, in turn, was superseded by the third which was built in 1906.

Statistics of Scott County: Population, 1920, 13,411. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $7,170,922. Area, 620 square miles. Number of farms, 1,344. Railway mileage, 70. Drained by the tributaries of the Cumberland River. Surface hilly and covered with fine forests. Staple products are corn, grass and live stock. Considerable attention is given to the production of small fruits. Fine fire clay deposits are found. Huntsville, the county seat, with a population of about five hundred, has good schools, churches, a weekly newspaper, and flourishing business establishments. The chief town in the county is Oneida, on the Cincinnati Southern Railroad, with a population of 943. A railroad is being extended from Oneida into Fentress County. Helenwood is another flourishing town. Scholastic population of county, 5,411; high schools, 5; elementary schools, 61.

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

History of Scott County Tennessee

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