Blount

Formed July 11, 1795 (10^th county)

Blount County (135,283), Maryville (31,909)

The 1906 yellow brick Classical Revival courthouse is on Court Street between Lamar Alexander Parkway and Court Circle.  United States Highway 321 is Lamar Alexander Parkway.  Baumann Brothers are the courthouse designers.  The structure features a working clock tower and columns.  Veterans’ memorials are in front of the building.  The courthouse has been enlarged.  A Justice Center was added in 1998.  The courthouse was enlarged in 1975 and restored in 1978.  The county was formed on July 11, 1795 from Knox and Jefferson counties as the 10^th county with Maryville as the only county seat.  Blount County was named for Governor William Blount.  He is also the namesake for the county seat of Sullivan County.  The county seat is named Governor Blount’s wife Mary Grainger.  She is also the namesake of Grainger County.  Blount County was the birthplace of 1 Tennessee Governors, A. Lamar Alexander, Jr. 

Blount County government consists of a sheriff, a County Mayor, and 21 Commissioners.  Two Circuit Court Judges, One Chancery Court Judge, Four General Court Judges, and One Juvenile Court Judge serve Blount County.  Blount County is on the southeast border with North Carolina.  Knoxville, Tennessee is directly north and Chattanooga, Tennessee is southwest of the county.  The county center is in Maryville .7 miles East of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Knox and Sevier counties and North Carolina and Monroe and Loudon counties. 

The area of the county is 559 square miles.  It is 23 out of 95 in the state.  It ranks 11 out of 95 in population in the state.  It has a density of 242.0 persons per square mile making it 14 out of 95 in the state.  Blount County has 36.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 129 crosses north to south in the county from Knox County to North Carolina.  United States Highway 321 enters from Sevier County, east, and exits to Loudon County, west.  United States Highway 411 goes northeast to southwest from Sevier County to Monroe County.  United States Highway 441 comes in joined with United States Highway 411 from Sevier County, splits and continues into Knox County, north.  The county resembles a bag of marbles tipping over to the southeast.  Maryville is located in the northwest quarter of the county.  Maryville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 23.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

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