Jefferson County, Tennessee

Jefferson County, Tennessee
Jefferson County Courthouse in Dandridge
Location in the U.S. state of Tennessee
Tennessee's location in the U.S.
Founded	June 11, 1792
Named for	Thomas Jefferson
Seat	Dandridge
Largest city	Jefferson City
Area
• Total	314 sq mi (813 km2)
• Land	274 sq mi (710 km2)
• Water	40 sq mi (104 km2), 13%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	53,240
• Density	194/sq mi (75/km²)
Congressional districts	1st, 2nd
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	jeffersoncountytn.gov

Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,407. Its county seat is Dandridge.

Jefferson County is part of the Morristown, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Knoxville-Morristown-Sevierville, TN Combined Statistical Area.

Jefferson County was established on June 11, 1792, by William Blount, Governor of the Southwest Territory. It had been a part of Caswell County during the State of Franklin period (1784–1789). Its county seat, Dandridge, was settled in 1783.

On the eve of the Civil War, Jefferson County, like most other counties in mountainous East Tennessee, was opposed to secession. In Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession referendum on June 8, 1861, Jefferson County voters rejected secession by a margin of 1,987 to 603. A railroad bridge at Strawberry Plains was among those targeted by the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy in November 1861. This led to internal conflict in the area throughout the war, with men from the county enlisting in both of the rival armies.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 314 square miles (810 km²), of which 274 square miles (710 km²) is land and 40 square miles (100 km²) (13%) is water. The county is affected by two artificial lakes: Douglas Lake, created by the damming of the French Broad River in the south, and Cherokee Lake, created by the damming of the Holston River in the north.