Editing Anderson County, Tennessee

{{short description|County in Tennessee, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox U.S. county
 | county               = Anderson County
 | state                = Tennessee
 | seal                 = File:Andersoncotnseal.jpg
 | founded year         = 1801
 | founded date         = November 6
 | named for            = [[Joseph Anderson (Tennessee politician)|Joseph Anderson]]<ref name=tehc>Tara Mitchell Mielnik, "[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=23 Anderson County]," ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture''. Retrieved: March 31, 2013.</ref>
 | leader_title         = Mayor
 | leader_name          = Terry Frank ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]])
 | seat wl              = Clinton
 | largest city wl      = Oak Ridge
 | area_total_sq_mi     = 345
 | area_land_sq_mi      = 337
 | area_water_sq_mi     = 7.6
 | area percentage      = 2.2%
 | census yr            = 2020
 | population_total     = 77123
 | pop_est_as_of        = 2023
 | population_est       = 80234 {{increase}}
 | density_sq_mi        = auto
 | time zone            = Eastern
 | footnotes            = 
 | web                  = www.andersontn.org
 | ex image             = Anderson-County-Courthouse-tn2.jpg
 | ex image cap         = Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton
 | district             = 3rd }}

'''Anderson County''' is a [[County (United States)|county]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Tennessee]]. It is located in the northern part of the state in [[East Tennessee]]. As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], its population was 77,123.<ref name="QF">{{cite web |title=Anderson County, Tennessee |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/andersoncountytennessee/PST045219 |website=quickfacts.census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=August 29, 2021}}</ref> Its [[county seat]] is [[Clinton, Tennessee|Clinton]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref> Anderson County is included in the [[Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area]].

==History==
Before the formation of Anderson County, Tennessee, that territory was initially land of what is today called the [[Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians]], which had been settled by several pioneer families including the Wallace, Gibbs, Freels, Frost and Tunnell families. Although the [[Treaty of Holston]], signed in 1791, was intended as a negotiation with the Cherokee to prohibit settlement of the area including what is today Anderson County, the treaty became ineffective as more settlers moved through the [[Appalachian Mountains]] from Virginia and North Carolina into Tennessee. The flooding of white settlers into the Indian domain was cause for several skirmishes, which eased after the Treaty of Tellico in 1798 (with an origination point for relinquished land from the Cherokee being the [[Tellico Blockhouse]]) allowed for greater ease in settling the area.<ref>{{cite book |last= Overholt |first= James |title= Anderson County, Tennessee |publisher= [[The Donning Company]] |year= 1989 |isbn= 0-89865-770-9 |pages=13–20}}</ref>

Anderson County was partitioned from a portion of [[Grainger County, Tennessee]] as well as a portion of [[Knox County, Tennessee]], in 1801; neighboring [[Roane County, Tennessee]], was also formed from a portion of Knox County, Tennessee, in 1801, making Anderson and Roane counties effectively called 'sister counties'.<ref>{{cite book |last= Wells |first= Emma Middleton |title= History of Roane County, Tennessee, Volume 1 |publisher= The Lookout Publishing Company |year= 1927 |isbn= 0-8063-8003-9 |pages=9–11}}</ref>  Anderson County was named in honor of [[Joseph Anderson (Tennessee politician)|Joseph Anderson]] (1757–1847), who was at that time [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] from Tennessee, and whose career also included judge of the Superior Court of the [[Territory South of the River Ohio]] and [[Comptroller]] of the [[U.S. Treasury]].

Like many East Tennessee counties, the residents of Anderson County were largely opposed to secession on the eve of the Civil War. On June 8, 1861, Anderson Countians voted against Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession, 1,278 to 97.<ref>Oliver Perry Temple, ''[https://archive.org/details/easttennesseean00tempgoog/page/n227 <!-- pg=199 --> East Tennessee and the Civil War]'' (R. Clarke Company, 1899), p. 199.</ref>

The construction of [[Norris Dam]], the first dam built by the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]], brought major changes to the county in the 1930s. Approximately 2900 families were relocated from reservoir lands in Anderson and nearby counties during the construction, which began in 1933 and was completed in 1936. The town of [[Norris, Tennessee|Norris]] was initially built as a [[planned community]] to house the workers involved in the construction of this dam. As a result of the dam completion and operation, the temperature of the downstream [[Clinch River]] bed changed, so that a former pearl industry which had been successful for many years evaporated as the [[mussels]], once prevalent in the river, were not able to sustain life in the changed climate.

During [[World War II]], the federal government's [[Manhattan Project]] brought more change to the county, including the displacement of more families and the founding of [[Oak Ridge, Tennessee|Oak Ridge]].

The [[Museum of Appalachia]] in Norris commemorates pioneer and rural life of past decades in Anderson County and the surrounding region. It is also an antique shop that sells artifacts from the times of the first settlers to the times of the [[Coal Creek War]].

==Geography==
According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|345|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|337|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|7.6|sqmi}} (2.2%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_47.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=April 1, 2015|date=August 22, 2012|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files}}</ref>

===Adjacent counties===
*[[Campbell County, Tennessee|Campbell County]] (north)
*[[Union County, Tennessee|Union County]] (northeast)
*[[Knox County, Tennessee|Knox County]] (southeast)
*[[Roane County, Tennessee|Roane County]] (southwest)
*[[Morgan County, Tennessee|Morgan County]] (west)
*[[Scott County, Tennessee|Scott County]] (northwest)

===National protected area===
*[[Manhattan Project National Historical Park]] (part)

===State protected areas===
*[[Norris Dam State Park]] (part)
*North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area (part)

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
| 1810 = 3959
| 1820 = 4668
| 1830 = 5310
| 1840 = 5658
| 1850 = 6938
| 1860 = 7068
| 1870 = 8704
| 1880 = 10820
| 1890 = 15128
| 1900 = 17634
| 1910 = 17717
| 1920 = 18298
| 1930 = 19722
| 1940 = 26504
| 1950 = 59407
| 1960 = 60032
| 1970 = 60300
| 1980 = 67346
| 1990 = 68250
| 2000 = 71330
| 2010 = 75129
| 2020 = 77123
| estyear = 2023
| estimate = 80234
| estref = <ref name="USCensusEst2023">{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/tables/2020-2023/counties/totals/co-est2023-pop.xlsx| title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023|publisher= United States Census Bureau|access-date=March 14, 2024}}</ref>
| align-fn = center
| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title=U.S. Decennial Census |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=April 1, 2015 }}</ref><br />1790-1960<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=April 1, 2015}}</ref> 1900-1990<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/tn190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|date=March 27, 1995|access-date=April 1, 2015}}</ref><br />1990-2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|date=April 2, 2001|access-date=April 1, 2015}}</ref> 2010-2020<ref name="QF"/>
}}
{{Stack|[[Image:USA Anderson County, Tennessee.csv age pyramid.svg|thumb|left|150px|Age pyramid for Anderson County<ref>Based on 2000 [[census]] data</ref>]]}}

===2020 census===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+Anderson County racial composition<ref>{{Cite web|title=Explore Census Data|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US47001&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|access-date=December 26, 2021|website=data.census.gov}}</ref>
!scope="col"| Race
!scope="col"| Number
!scope="col"| Percentage
|-
!scope="row"| [[White (U.S. Census)|White]] (non-Hispanic)
| 66,044
| 85.63%
|-
!scope="row"| [[African American (U.S. Census)|Black or African American]] (non-Hispanic)
| 2,841
| 3.68%
|-
!scope="row"| [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]]
| 217
| 0.28%
|-
!scope="row"| [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]]
| 975
| 1.26%
|-
!scope="row"| [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]]
| 53
| 0.07%
|-
!scope="row"| [[Race (United States Census)|Other/Mixed]]
| 4,173
| 5.41%
|-
!scope="row"| [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]]
| 2,820
| 3.66%
|}
As of the [[2020 United States census]], there were 77,123 people, 30,175 households, and 19,074 families residing in the county.

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR8">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=May 14, 2011 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 71,330 people, 29,780 households, and 20,518 families residing in the county. The [[population density]] was {{convert|211|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people&nbsp;|people|}}. There were 32,451 housing units at an average density of {{convert|96|/mi2|/km2|adj=pre|units&nbsp;}}. The racial makeup of the county was 93.36% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 3.88% [[Race (United States Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], 0.32% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], 0.83% [[Race (United States Census)|Asian]], 0.01% [[Race (United States Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.38% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.22% from two or more races. 1.10% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|Latino]] of any race.

According to the [[census|2000 Census]] the largest ancestry groups in Anderson County were [[English American|English]] (37%), [[Irish American|Irish]] (14.7%), [[German American|German]] (13.5%), [[Scots-Irish American|Scots-Irish]] (4.5%) and [[Scottish American|Scottish]] (3.1%).

There were 29,780 households, out of which 29.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.80% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 11.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.10% were non-families. 27.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.20% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 25.50% from 45 to 64, and 16.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,483, and the median income for a family was $42,584. Males had a median income of $33,710 versus $23,467 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the county was $19,009. About 10.20% of families and 13.10% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 18.40% of those under age 18 and 8.80% of those age 65 or over.

==Economy==
Anderson County has a thriving tourism industry, thanks to major attractions such as [[Tennessee Valley Authority|Norris Lake]], the [[Green McAdoo School]], the [[Museum of Appalachia]], and [[American Museum of Science and Energy]], and the county is considered a part of the Norris Highlands.

==Communities==
[[File:Market-Clinton-tn1.jpg|right|210px|thumb|[[Clinton, Tennessee|Clinton]]]]

===Cities===
*[[Clinton, Tennessee|Clinton]] (county seat)
*[[Norris, Tennessee|Norris]]
*[[Oak Ridge, Tennessee|Oak Ridge]] (partial)
*[[Rocky Top, Tennessee|Rocky Top]] (partial)

===Town===
*[[Oliver Springs, Tennessee|Oliver Springs]] (partial)

===Census-designated place===
*[[Andersonville, Tennessee|Andersonville]]
*[[Briceville, Tennessee|Briceville]]

===Unincorporated communities===
{{Div col|colwidth=10em|rules=yes}}
*[[Beech Grove, Anderson County, Tennessee|Beech Grove]]
*[[Belmont, Anderson County, Tennessee|Belmont]]
*[[Bethel (Anderson County), Tennessee|Bethel]]
*[[Braytown, Tennessee|Braytown]]
*[[Buffalo, Anderson County, Tennessee|Buffalo]]
*[[Claxton, Anderson County, Tennessee|Claxton]]
*[[Devonia, Tennessee|Devonia]]
*[[Fork Mountain, Tennessee|Fork Mountain]]
*[[Fraterville, Tennessee|Fraterville]]
*[[Heiskell, Tennessee|Heiskell]] (partial)
*[[King Arthur Court, Tennessee|King Arthur Court]]
*[[Marlow, Tennessee|Marlow]]
*[[Medford, Tennessee|Medford]]
*[[Stainville, Tennessee|Stainville]]
{{div col end}}

==Politics==
The last Democrat to carry this county was Bill Clinton in 1996.
{{PresHead|place=Anderson County, Tennessee|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 9, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|24,582|11,525|441|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|23,184|11,741|645|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|19,212|9,013|1,656|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|18,968|10,122|569|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|19,675|11,396|499|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|18,510|12,896|276|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|14,688|13,556|535|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|11,943|13,457|2,116|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|11,838|13,482|3,291|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|15,056|9,589|143|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|16,783|10,415|176|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|14,235|10,194|1,307|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|10,494|13,455|293|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|13,865|6,713|421|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|10,233|7,198|4,323|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|8,860|12,146|0|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|11,153|9,878|190|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|11,071|9,368|682|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|10,489|8,939|38|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|5,372|5,915|550|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|3,424|3,476|20|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|1,852|2,218|21|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|1,805|2,348|60|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1932|Republican|1,605|1,081|11|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,304|531|0|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|1,495|548|115|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|3,127|748|19|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|1,730|537|19|Tennessee}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Progressive|539|597|1,203|Tennessee}}

==See also==
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Anderson County, Tennessee]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Anderson County, Tennessee}}
* [http://www.andersontn.org/ Official site]
* [http://andersoncountychamber.org/ Anderson County Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.tngenweb.org/anderson Anderson County, TNGenWeb] - free genealogy resources for the county
* Anderson county [http://tnlandforms.us/landforms/countylf.php?county=Anderson landforms]

{{Geographic location
|Centre    = Anderson County, Tennessee
|North     = [[Campbell County, Tennessee|Campbell County]]
|Northeast = [[Union County, Tennessee|Union County]]
|East      =
|Southeast = [[Knox County, Tennessee|Knox County]]
|South     =
|Southwest = [[Roane County, Tennessee|Roane County]]
|West      = [[Morgan County, Tennessee|Morgan County]]
|Northwest = [[Scott County, Tennessee|Scott County]]
}}

{{Anderson County, Tennessee}}
{{Knoxville Metro}}
{{Tennessee}}

{{coord|36.11|-84.20|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-TN_source:UScensus1990}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Anderson County, Tennessee| ]]
[[Category:1801 establishments in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Knoxville metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1801]]
[[Category:East Tennessee]]