Sevier County was formed in 1785, at the first session of the
Lost State of Franklin legislature. It was named for John Sevier, Colonel
in the American Revolution and commander at the Battle of King's Mountain.
He later went on to become the first governor of Franklin, and, in 1796, became
Tennessee's first governor as well. Tennessee became the 16th state to
enter the Union over a year later on June 1, 1796.
On September 29, 1786, a
Baptist church was organized where the east and west forks of the Little Pigeon
River meet. In October, 1795, Sevierville was laid out in the same area.
By 1795, the Forks of the
River had become a fairly large settlement and was established by the
territorial legislature as the seat of county government. Sevierville did
not become an incorporated city until 1901.
Our
courthouse, undoubtedly the most photogenic in the state, was completed in 1896
to replace a
structure which burned in 1856. The fire of 1856 was Sevierville's most
disastrous fire of all time.
The other cities in Sevier county include Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.
The name "Pigeon Forge" comes from the name of the Little Pigeon River, so
called because of the huge flocks of passenger pigeons that stop here on their
migratory flights, and the "forge" from Love's forge. Pigeon Forge is most
well known as the home of Dollywood.
Gatlinburg was named for Radford Gatlin. The name became official with
the establishment of a post office by that name in 1856. Gatlinburg was
incorporated in 1945. It serves as the main entrance to the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park. This national park is the most visited park in
the nation, with over 9 million visitors each year.
Through donations that included pennies from school children, large donations
from the Rockefeller family and other benefactors, and monies directly from the
states of North Carolina and Tennessee and the United States government, enough
funds were raised in 1933 to complete the purchase of 6,000 acres of land.
Congress established the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on June 15, 1934,
and the stewardship of the park was turned over to the National Park Service at
that time. The memorial at Newfound Gap stands in honor of this great act.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt officially dedicated the park on September
2, 1940.
Sevier
County, located in the Tennessee Valley, is one of the largest counties in the
state. It joins North Carolina on the south where the two states share the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This beautiful area boasts of
mountains, valleys, coves, streams, rivers, and farmlands. The French
Broad River flows through the northern portion of the county receiving the
waters of the Little Pigeon River and Boyd's Creek.