Henry

Formed November 7, 1821 (51^st county)

Henry County (32,330), Paris (10,156)                

The red brick Richardsonian Romanesque building was constructed in 1896.  It is located on a square at Market, Washington, Poplar, and Wood streets.  The facility is on United States Highway 641 (Market Street.)  Reuben Harrison Hunt provided the designs.  The courthouse dome has a working clock and corner towers.  The county was founded on November 7, 1821 as the 51^st county.  Clifty was the first county seat until 1825 when Paris took over.  The county is named for American statesman Patrick Henry.  Paris was named for Paris, France.  Henry County was the birthplace of 1 Tennessee Governor, James D. Porter. 

Henry County government consists of a sheriff, a County Mayor, and 15 Commissioners.  Two Circuit Court Judges and One General Court Judge serve Henry, Benton, Carroll, Decatur, and Hardin counties.  The county is in the northwest part of the state.  Kentucky is on its northern border.  The Tennessee River forms its northeast border.  Nashville, Tennessee is southeast and Memphis, Tennessee is southwest of the county.  The county center is 5.3 miles Northeast of Paris nearer Woodland Acres.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Kentucky and Stewart, Benton, Carroll, and Weakley counties. 

The area of the county is 593 square miles.  It is 17 out of 95 in the state.  It ranks 45 out of 95 in population in the state.  It has a density of 54.52 persons per square mile making it 61 out of 95 in the state.  Henry County has 35.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 79 crosses through the county from northeast to southwest from Stewart County to Carroll County.  United States Highway 641 comes from Kentucky, north, and goes to Benton County, southeast.  Henry County is a rectangle with a wandering eastern border.  Paris is located in the western third of the county.  Paris is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 31.4% of the county population.  This county is in the Paris Micropolitan Statistical Area.