Editing Jamestown, Tennessee (section)

==History==

Jamestown was established in 1823 as a county seat for Fentress County. It was incorporated as a city in 1837. Both Fentress County and Jamestown are named for prominent local politician James Fentress (1763–1843),<ref name=nrhp>{{NRHP url|id=64500603|title=Historic and Architectural Resources of Fentress County}}, National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 1991</ref> who made the appeal for the new county to be carved out of Overton and Morgan counties.

[[File:Mark-twain-spring-jamestown-tn1.jpg|left|200px|thumb|Mark Twain Spring in Jamestown, used by Twain's parents circa 1827-1832]]

Jamestown was built upon the site of a semi-permanent [[Cherokee]] village, which probably made use of the many natural rock shelters in the area.<ref>The Federal Writers' Project, ''The WPA Guide to Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1986), 498.</ref> Before the founding of Jamestown, the area was known as "Sand Springs" for the many bubbling springs located within the city. The last remaining spring is located in the Mark Twain City Park, just northeast of the county courthouse. This spring provided water to the family of John M. Clemens, father of noted author Samuel L. Clemens ([[Mark Twain]]), before they moved to Missouri. John Clemens served as the first circuit court clerk. He also drew the plans for the first courthouse and jail.

During the [[American Civil War]], Fentress County provided four companies for the [[Confederate Army]] and three for the [[Union Army]]. The notorious [["Tinker Dave" Beaty]] formed his Union scout company in Fentress County to battle with the pro-Confederate [[guerrilla]]'s led by [[Champ Ferguson]]. Neither of these companies were ever mustered into the armies they supported, and they spent most of their time fighting each other.

[[World War I]] hero [[Alvin York|Sgt. Alvin C. York]] was born and raised in Fentress County. He built the [[Alvin C. York Agricultural Institute]], a high school in Jamestown. It is one of four state-funded schools in Tennessee.