Editing Athens, Tennessee (section)

==History==

===Early history and Civil War===
[[Image:Samuel-cleage-house-tn2.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The Samuel Cleage House outside of Athens, set on the site of McElhaney and Sons Nursery, built in the 1820s]]

The [[Cherokee]] were living in McMinn County at the time of the arrival of the first Euro-American explorers.  The Athens area was situated nearly halfway between the [[Overhill Cherokee]] villages of [[Great Tellico]] to the north in [[Monroe County, Tennessee|Monroe County]] and [[Great Hiwassee]] along the Hiwassee River to the south.  In 1819, the Cherokee signed the Calhoun Treaty, selling the land north of the Hiwassee (including all of modern McMinn County) to the United States.  McMinn County was organized on November 13, 1819, at the home of John Walker in what is now [[Calhoun, Tennessee|Calhoun]].  The Native American village, Pumpkintown (a corruption of Potemkin town), was located on a farm about two miles east of present-day Athens. It is sometimes incorrectly identified as a forerunner of Athens.  Athens was laid out and chosen as the county seat in 1822.<ref>C. Stephen Byrum, ''McMinn County'' (Memphis, Tenn:  Memphis State University Press, 1984), 5-9, 20.</ref>  The name "Athens" may have been chosen due to perceived topographical similarities to [[Athens, Greece]].<ref name="City of Athens - History">Bill Akins, "[http://www.cityofathenstn.com/history.html City of Athens - History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710162713/http://www.cityofathenstn.com/history.html |date=July 10, 2016 }}."  Retrieved:  November 27, 2007.</ref>

By 1834, the population of Athens had grown to over 500.<ref>Byrum, ''McMinn County'', 21.</ref>  Prominent early settlers included William Henry Cooke, who operated an iron forge near modern [[Etowah, Tennessee|Etowah]], and Samuel Clegg (or Cleage), a construction entrepreneur.  Jesse Mayfield, whose descendants founded [[Mayfield Dairy|Mayfield Dairy Farms]], arrived in the early 1820s.<ref>Byrum, ''McMinn County'', 11-13.</ref>  The Hiwassee Railroad received a charter in the mid-1830s to build a railroad connecting Knoxville, Tennessee, and [[Dalton, Georgia]].  The railroad began construction in 1837, although financial and legal problems delayed its completion until 1851.<ref name="City of Athens - History" />  In 1836, [[John Wool|General John Wool]] arrived in Athens to help coordinate the [[Cherokee Removal]].  Although initially voluntary, the operation became a forced removal in 1838 when many Cherokee refused to leave.  The removal culminated in the forced march west that became known as the [[Trail of Tears]].  Wool set up his headquarters at the Bridges Hotel, which was located across the street from the McMinn County Courthouse.<ref>Information obtained from the McMinn County Heritage Book Committee marker at the Bridges Hotel site (c. 1997).  Information accessed: November 26, 2007.</ref>

McMinn County was divided during the [[American Civil War]].  The well-established railroad brought numerous pro-secessionist and anti-secessionist speakers to the county, including [[Andrew Johnson]], [[Horace Maynard]], [[John Bell (Tennessee politician)|John Bell]], and [[William Gannaway Brownlow|William "Parson" Brownlow]].  In 1861, McMinn County voted against secession by a narrow 1,144-904 margin.  The county sent 12 units to the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] army and 8 units to the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] army.  General [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] was briefly headquartered at the Bridges Hotel in McMinn County while preparing his "March to the Sea."<ref>Byrum, ''McMinn County'', 23-32.</ref>

===Post-Civil War===
[[Image:Battle-of-athens-tennessee-marker1.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Tennessee Historical Commission|THC]] marker at the "Battle of Athens" site]]

After the Civil War, the railroad lured business opportunists to McMinn County.  In 1887, several investors established the Athens Mining and Manufacturing Company with plans to convert the town into a model industrial community and initiate large-scale mining operations in the area.  Textile mills, flour mills, and timber mills dominated the county's industry by the late 19th century, complemented by furniture and appliance factories in the 1920s.<ref>Byrum, ''McMinn County'', 40-60.</ref>

In 1946, several McMinn County [[World War II]] veterans ran for local office in hopes of removing a county government deemed corrupt.  On August 1, local authorities locked themselves in the county jail along with the ballot boxes.  Suspecting foul play, the veterans armed themselves in revolt and assembled on a hill across the street from the jail.  After an exchange of gunfire, the county authorities surrendered.  The ballots were counted, and the veterans' ticket was elected, ending the [[Battle of Athens (1946)|Battle of Athens]].<ref>Information obtained from Tennessee Historical Commission marker 2A 102 in Athens, Tennessee.  Information accessed: November 26, 2007.</ref>