Editing Washington County, Tennessee (section)

===Watauga and the Washington District===
Washington County is rooted in the [[Watauga Association|Watauga settlements]], which were established in the early 1770s in the vicinity of what is now [[Elizabethton, Tennessee|Elizabethton]], in adjacent Carter County. At the outbreak of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] in 1776, the Wataugans organized the "Washington District", which was governed by a [[committee of safety (American Revolution)|committee of safety]]. North Carolina initially refused to recognize the settlements as legal, but finally agreed to annex the district after the settlers thwarted an invasion by hostile Cherokees. The settlements were governed as the [[Washington District, North Carolina|Washington District]], which originally included all of what is now Tennessee. The district was reorganized as Washington County in 1777.<ref name=tehc>Mildred Kozsuch and Ruth Broyles, "[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1472 Washington County]", ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture''. Retrieved: November 15, 2013.</ref>