Henderson County, Tennessee

Henderson County, Tennessee
Henderson County Courthouse in Lexington
Location in the U.S. state of Tennessee
Tennessee's location in the U.S.
Founded	1821
Named for	James Henderson
Seat	Lexington
Largest city	Lexington
Area
• Total	526 sq mi (1,362 km2)
• Land	520 sq mi (1,347 km2)
• Water	5.8 sq mi (15 km2), 1.1%
Population
• (2010)	27,769
• Density	53/sq mi (20/km²)
Congressional district	7th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	hendersoncountytn.gov

Henderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,769. Its county seat is Lexington. The county was founded in 1821 and named for James Henderson, a soldier in the War of 1812.

Henderson County was established in 1821; it was named for Lt. Colonel James Henderson, Jr. (1775-1814), of the Tennessee State Militia, who was killed in late December 1814 below New Orleans during a clash with the British Army. Henderson is said to have served in earlier conflicts such as the Creek Indian war, which took place during the same overall time period as the War of 1812.

After the Battle of New Orleans, Major General William Carroll's Tennessee brigade, which was the largest single force under General Andrew Jackson's command in Louisiana, established their outgoing camp upriver from New Orleans and named it Camp Henderson.

General Carroll's first term as Governor of Tennessee began the same year that Henderson County was established. Perhaps it was he who proposed naming the new county after his fallen officer James Henderson.

The county seat, Lexington, was laid out in 1822. Like many Tennessee counties, Henderson was divided during the Civil War. Confederate sentiment was strongest in the western half of the county (where most of the county's plantations were located), while Union support was strongest in the hilly eastern half.