Hawkins County, Tennessee

Hawkins County Education, Geography, and History

Hawkins County is a county located in the state of Tennessee. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 56,833. Its county seat is Rogersville, Tennessee's second-oldest town. The county was created in 1787 and named for Benjamin Hawkins, a US Senator from North Carolina.

Hawkins County is part of the Kingsport–Bristol–Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area, commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.

Etymology - Origin of Hawkins County Name

Named in honor of Benjamin Hawkins (1754-1818), member of the North Carolina legislature and the Continental Congress, US senator, agent for the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

History of Hawkins County

Created 1786 from Sullivan County; named in honor of Benjamin Hawkins (1754-1818), member of the North Carolina legislature and the Continental Congress, US senator, agent for the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw.

Hawkins County was formed in 1786 from Sullivan County (Acts of Tennessee 1786, Chapter 34).

There was a fire at the Hawkins County courthouse in 1863.

Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
One of the oldest Tennessee counties, Hawkins County was first established as a separate North Carolina county on January 6, 1787, when the state legislature divided Sullivan County, North Carolina. The original county was quite large, extending from the North Fork of the Holston River southwestwardly to the "Big Suck" near present-day Chattanooga. Other counties, or parts of counties, later created from Hawkins include Hancock, Grainger, Jefferson, Knox, Roane, Meigs, and Hamilton. Prior to its creation by North Carolina, the county was Spencer County, State of Franklin.

The act creating Hawkins County empowered seven commissioners to select a central place for the county seat, where a courthouse, prison, and stocks would be built and to levy a tax for the support of local government. The first meeting of the commissioners took place at the home of Thomas Gibbons on Big Creek on June 4, 1787, at which time Joseph Rogers's land on Crockett's Creek was selected as the location for the county seat. During the summer of 1787 the courthouse, jail, and stocks were erected, and the little community took the name Hawkins Court House. The first elected county officials were John Hunt, sheriff; William Marshall, register; and Thomas Hutchins, clerk. Marshall and Nathaniel Henderson were elected the first representatives to the North Carolina House of Commons, and Thomas Amis was elected the first senator to represent the new county in the legislative assembly. Find more from the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture: HAWKINS COUNTY

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 500 square miles (1,294 km²), of which, 487 square miles (1,260 km²) of it is land and 13 square miles (34 km²) of it (2.60%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Lee County, Virginia (north)
• Sullivan County (east)
• Greene County (south)
• Hamblen County and Grainger County (southwest)
• Hancock County (west)
• Scott County, Virginia (northeast)

Education

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