Jefferson

Formed June 11, 1792 (7^th county)

Jefferson County (54,679), Dandridge (3,340), Jefferson City (8,415)

The red/brown brick Greek Revival courthouse was constructed in 1845.  It is on Main Street at Chestnut Hill.  United States Highway 70 is one block to the north of the site.  A Justice Center was added in 2007.  Hickman Brothers are the architects.  The building features a tower.  The county was formed on June 11, 1792 from parts of Greene and Hawkins counties as the 7^th county with Dandridge as the only county seat.  Jefferson County is named for United States President Thomas Jefferson.  The county seat is named for Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, wife of George Washington. 

Jefferson County government consists of a sheriff, a County Mayor, and 17 Commissioners.  Five Circuit Court Judges, One Chancery Court Judge, and One General Court Judge serve Jefferson, Cocke, Grainger, and Sevier counties.  The county is in northeast Tennessee.  Knoxville, Tennessee is southwest and Asheville, North Carolina is southeast of the county.  The county center is 4 miles Northwest of Dandridge.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Hamblen, Cocke, Sevier, Knox, and Grainger counties. 

The area of the county is 274 square miles.  It is 79 out of 95 in the state.  It ranks 28 out of 95 in population in the state.  It has a density of 200.0 persons per square mile making it 17 out of 95 in the state.  Jefferson County has 29.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 40 comes into the county from the southeast, Cocke County, and goes to the west, Knox County.  Interstate Highway 81 enters from Hamblen County, northeast, and terminates.  United States Highway 11 East passes from Hamblen County, northeast, to Knox County, southwest.  United States Highway 25 East comes from Hamblen County and goes to Cocke County.  United States Highway 25 West comes from Cocke County and goes to Knox County.  United States Highway 70 parallels Interstate Highway 40 from Cocke to Knox counties.  The county looks like a bag of popcorn leaning toward the northeast.  Dandridge is located near the southern border of the county.  Jefferson City is in the northern third of the county.  Dandridge is the county seat and Jefferson City is the largest city.  Dandridge is 6.1% of the county population while Jefferson City is 15.4% of the county population.  This county is in the Morristown Metropolitan Statistical Area.