Editing Hamilton County, Tennessee (section)

==History==
For thousands of years, indigenous cultures occupied this region, especially along the rivers and creeks. The area was long occupied by the historic [[Cherokee Nation]]. In the early 19th century, it was being led by [[John Ross (Cherokee chief)|John Ross]]. The city that is now known as [[Chattanooga]] developed at Ross's Landing, a busy trading post recognized as the center of the Cherokee Nation. Over a series of treaties with the United States between 1819 and 1835, the Cherokee had been mostly moved out of the area.

If any Cherokee wished to stay in the area, the head of the family would have to leave the tribe and become an [[United States citizenship|American citizen]]. Once a citizen, they would be entitled to {{convert|640|acre}} of land. At the time of death, the person's heirs would be entitled to the land. Of the 107 reservations reported to Congress in 1819, only 39 were listed as [[fee simple]]. The other 68 reservations were allowed to continue as long as the family stayed on the land. Once the family moved, the land could be sold. This provision made it easier to remove the Cherokee from the area. The 1835 [[Treaty of New Echota]] provided the U.S. government a legal basis for the forced removal of the Cherokee, opening their former lands for settlement.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hamiltontn.gov/community/|title=Hamilton County Community Information|website=www.hamiltontn.gov|access-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/treaties/|title=Treaties|last=Randal Rust|website=Tennessee Encyclopedia|language=en-US|access-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref> Some Cherokee leaders had agreed to this, in the belief that removal was inevitable and they could negotiate decent conditions for their people. The majority of the Cherokee opposed removal.

Hamilton County was formed on October 25, 1819, from portions of [[Rhea County, Tennessee|Rhea County]] and [[Cherokee Nation|Cherokee]] land that was ceded to the U.S. It was named after [[Alexander Hamilton]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n146 147]}}</ref> an officer in the [[American Revolutionary War]], member of the [[Continental Congress]], the first U.S. [[Secretary of Treasury|secretary of treasury]], and one of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Fathers]] of the United States.

At the time of the 1820 census, the county counted 821 residents, including 16 blacks, 39 slaves, and about 100 Cherokee living on six reservations. The original legislature ruled that John Gamble, William Lauderdale, and John Patterson, the three men who were responsible for founding the county, would conduct all county business in the county seat. The original county seat was in the home of Hasten Poe, who owned a popular tavern located near those three men's farms. In 1822 the County Court was moved to the farm of Ashael Rawlings in [[Dallas, Tennessee]]; he was the newly appointed county clerk. After the county seat was moved to [[Harrison, Tennessee|Harrison]], the Dallas settlement declined.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} The county seat was finally moved to [[Chattanooga]] in 1835.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

During the Civil War, Hamilton County was the site of an important [[Potassium nitrate|saltpeter]] mine. This material is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from caves. Lookout Mountain Cave was a major source of saltpeter during the Civil War. The mine was operated by [[Robert Cravens]], who owned the surrounding property. In May 1861, Cravens contracted with the Tennessee Military and Financial Board to deliver {{convert|20,000|lb}} of saltpeter. On May 24, he reported that he had ten hoppers already set up in his cave. Cravens was also mining Nickajack Cave in nearby Marion County. In 1862 he quit mining at Lookout Mountain Cave and rented the cave to the Confederate [[Nitre and Mining Bureau]], which mined the cave from June 1862 through July 1863. This mining ceased when Chattanooga was occupied by federal forces in 1863.<ref>Larry E. Matthews, ''Caves of Chattanooga'', 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-879961-27-2}}</ref> They stayed through the end of the war.

After the war, Tennessee rejoined the Union, and the state started to recover from the war. The long occupation had caused a breakdown in civil society. [[James County, Tennessee|James County]] was established by the [[Tennessee General Assembly]] in January 1871 and was named after Jesse J. James.<ref name="hctgs.org"/> In early 1919 James County went bankrupt; it became a part of Hamilton County in April.<ref name="hctgs.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hctgs.org/james_county_main.htm|title=Tennessee's Lost County - James County|website=www.hctgs.org}}</ref>

As of the 2017 census, Hamilton County is the fourth-most populated county in the state, with a population of 361,613. The growth rate is 1% per year over the last five years. Hamilton County has census records dating to the 1830s. The average income of Hamilton County is $26,560.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/hamiltoncountytennessee/PST045217|title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Hamilton County, Tennessee|website=www.census.gov|language=en|access-date=April 18, 2019}}</ref>