Meigs County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,758. Its county seat is Decatur.

It is a component of the Athens, Tennessee Micropolitan Area.

History

Before 1819, the area that is now Meigs County was part of the Cherokee nation. It had been inhabited for thousands of years by succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples. European trades had interacted with the Cherokee since the late 17th century, coming from colonial settlements in Virginia and South Carolina.

Following the American Revolutionary War, American settlers began to enter the territory in greater numbers. They established ferries across the Tennessee River from Rhea County as early as 1807. Colonel Return J. Meigs, a Revolutionary veteran and namesake for the county, was appointed as the United States Indian agent, based in Rhea County until 1817. He supervised trade with the Cherokee. That year, the agency was moved to an area in what is now Meigs County.

In 1819, the US made what is known as the Calhoun Treaty with the Cherokee, forcing them to cede lands north of the Hiwassee River for settlement. Meigs County was formed by the Tennessee legislature in 1836 from parts of Rhea County. Earlier in February 1861, Meigs County was alongside Sullivan County one of only two counties in East Tennessee voting to support a secession convention, which it did by a vote of 338 to 323. The county provided troops for both sides during the course of the war.

A new building was constructed in Decatur to house the collection of the Meigs County Historical Museum. It opened in July 2002. The Meigs County Historical Museum houses many court and family records. On permanent display is a mural depicting Main Street in Decatur in the 1930s. The mural was funded by grants from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the VEC Customer shares program. It was painted by local artist Bill McDonald.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (10%) is water.

The main geographic feature of Meigs County is the Tennessee River, which forms the county's western boundary. Watts Bar Dam is located along the river between Meigs and adjacent Rhea County. Above it is the manmade Watts Bar Lake, which spans the river upstream to Fort Loudoun Dam just west of Knoxville. Watts Bar Dam's tailwaters are part of Chickamauga Lake, which stretches downstream to Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga. The mouth of the Hiwassee River flows into the Tennessee River at a point in southwestern Meigs County, near where Meigs, Rhea, and Hamilton counties meet.

Adjacent counties

  • Roane County, Tennessee (north)
  • McMinn County, Tennessee (east)
  • Bradley County, Tennessee (southeast)
  • Hamilton County, Tennessee (south)
  • Rhea County, Tennessee (west)

State protected areas

  • Chickamauga Wildlife Management Area (part)
  • Hiwassee Refuge (part)

Demographics

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See also

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Meigs County, Tennessee

Notes

References

  • Meigs County-Decatur Chamber of Commerce
  • Meigs County, TNGenWeb - free genealogy resources for the county