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Carter County
County of Carter
Carter County Courthouse in Elizabethton
Carter County Courthouse in Elizabethton
Official seal of Carter County
Seal
Map of Tennessee highlighting Carter County
Location within the U.S. state of Tennessee
Map of the United States highlighting Tennessee
Tennessee's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Tennessee
Founded 1796
Named for Landon Carter
Seat Elizabethton
Largest city Elizabethton
Area
 • Total 348 sq mi (900 km2)
 • Land 341 sq mi (880 km2)
 • Water 6.4 sq mi (17 km2)  1.8%%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 56,356 Decrease
 • Density 168/sq mi (65/km2)
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district 1st

Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 57,424. Its county seat is Elizabethton. The county is named in honor of Landon Carter (1760-1800), an early settler active in the "Lost State of Franklin" 1784-1788 secession from the State of North Carolina. Carter County is part of the Johnson City, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–KingsportBristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area, located in northeastern Tennessee.

History

Carolinacolony
A map of the Province of Carolina

The area was originally claimed by Britain as part of the Clarendon settlements of the Province of Carolina, although actually populated at the time by the Cherokee.

The area was part of (though seldom actually administered by) the following jurisdictions in its early history:

Watauga Association

The county is named for General Landon Carter, the son of John Carter of Virginia, who was "chairman of the court" of the first majority-rule system of American democracy, known as the Watauga Association of 1772. The association was the first permanent settlement established outside the original thirteen American colonies and included the area that is today's Carter County. In 1775, the Association was absorbed into North Carolina by petition, becoming known thereafter as the Washington District.

As Wayne County in the State of Franklin

J. G. M. Ramsey records within his 1853 Annals of Tennessee that the State of Franklin established Wayne County from sections of both Washington County and a part of Wilkes County "lying west of the extreme heights of the Apalachian or Alleghany Mountains, into a separate and distinct county by the name of Wayne... This new county covered the same territory now embraced in the limits of Carter and Johnson counties."

The county seat, Elizabethton, is named for Carter's wife, Elizabeth MacLin Carter.

Civil War

Like most East Tennessee counties, Carter Countians opposed secession on the eve of the Civil War. In Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession referendum on June 8, 1861, Carter Countians rejected secession by a vote of 1,343 to 86. A railroad bridge at Carter's Depot (modern Watauga) was among those targeted by the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy in November 1861.

Early railroad

Carter County was served by the narrow gauge East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (The ET&WNC, nicknamed "Tweetsie") until the line ceased operations in 1950.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 348 square miles (900 km2), of which 341 square miles (880 km2) is land and 6.4 square miles (17 km2) (1.8%) is water.

Carter County is situated entirely within the Blue Ridge Mountains, specifically the Unaka Range and the Iron Mountains. Roan Mountain, which at 6,285 feet (1,916 m) is the highest point in Tennessee outside the Great Smoky Mountains, straddles the county's eastern border with North Carolina. The county's boundary with Sullivan County is defined as the ridgeline of Holston Mountain.

Lakes

Rivers

Waterfalls

BlueHole
The main waterfall at Blue Hole Falls, located northeast of Elizabethton on Holston Mountain.
  • CTF015 Big Laurel Br. Falls 50'
    lake
  • CTF001 Blue Hole Falls (4) 45'
    Cherokee National Forest
  • CTF018 Boof Falls? 12'
    Cherokee National Forest
  • CTF002 Coon Den Falls 50'
    Cherokee National Forest
  • CTF003 Dennis Cove Falls 25'
    wilderness
  • CTF005 Firescald Branch Falls
    wilderness
  • CTF016 Five Eights
    lake
  • CTF006 Jones Falls 100'
    Cherokee National Forest
  • CTF007 Laurel Falls 55'
    wilderness
  • CTF010 Laurel Falls (m) 25'
    wilderness
  • CTF011 Laurel Falls (u) 25'
    wilderness
  • CTF014 Mountaineer Falls 20'
    Cherokee National Forest
  • CTF012 North Fork Stony Creek Falls 30'
    Cherokee National Forest
  • CTF008 Sally Cove Creek Falls 25'
  • CTF009 Twisting Falls 30'
    Cherokee National Forest
  • CTF013 Splash Dam Falls? 25'
    Cherokee National Forest
  • CTF017 Watauga Falls? 18'
    Cherokee National Forest

Adjacent counties

National protected areas

State protected areas

Major highways

  • US 19E
  • US 321
  • SR 37
  • SR 67
  • SR 91
  • SR 143
  • SR 159
  • SR 173
  • SR 359
  • SR 361
  • SR 362
  • SR 400

Climate

Climate data for Carter County, Tennessee (Bristol-Johnson City)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °F (°C) 43.7
(6.5)
48.0
(8.9)
58.9
(14.9)
67.4
(19.7)
75.2
(24.0)
82.2
(27.9)
84.6
(29.2)
84.1
(28.9)
79.1
(26.2)
69.1
(20.6)
58.2
(14.6)
48.1
(8.9)
66.6
(19.2)
Daily mean °F (°C) 34.0
(1.1)
37.4
(3.0)
47.2
(8.4)
55.2
(12.9)
63.4
(17.4)
71.1
(21.7)
74.4
(23.6)
73.6
(23.1)
67.9
(19.9)
56.7
(13.7)
47.0
(8.3)
38.2
(3.4)
55.5
(13.1)
Average low °F (°C) 24.3
(−4.3)
26.8
(−2.9)
35.4
(1.9)
43.0
(6.1)
51.6
(10.9)
59.9
(15.5)
64.1
(17.8)
63.1
(17.3)
56.6
(13.7)
44.2
(6.8)
35.9
(2.2)
28.2
(−2.1)
44.4
(6.9)
Average rainfall inches (mm) 3.2
(81)
3.4
(86)
3.7
(94)
3.3
(84)
3.8
(97)
3.5
(89)
4.3
(110)
3.2
(81)
3.3
(84)
2.6
(66)
2.9
(74)
3.4
(86)
40.7
(1,030)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 5.2
(13)
4.2
(11)
2.3
(5.8)
0.4
(1.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.9
(2.3)
2.6
(6.6)
15.6
(40)
Average relative humidity (%) 59.0 71.5 69.0 67.0 69.5 73.0 75.0 76.5 76.5 74.0 68.5 69.5 74.0
Source: Climate-zone.com

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1800 4,813
1810 4,190 −12.9%
1820 4,835 15.4%
1830 6,414 32.7%
1840 5,372 −16.2%
1850 6,296 17.2%
1860 7,124 13.2%
1870 7,909 11.0%
1880 10,019 26.7%
1890 13,389 33.6%
1900 16,688 24.6%
1910 19,838 18.9%
1920 21,488 8.3%
1930 29,223 36.0%
1940 35,127 20.2%
1950 42,432 20.8%
1960 41,578 −2.0%
1970 42,575 2.4%
1980 50,205 17.9%
1990 51,505 2.6%
2000 56,742 10.2%
2010 57,424 1.2%
2020 56,356 −1.9%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790-1960 1900-1990
1990-2000 2010-2014
USA Carter County, Tennessee.csv age pyramid
Age pyramid Carter County

2020 census

Carter County racial composition
Race Number Percentage
White (non-Hispanic) 51,790 91.9%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 702 1.25%
Native American 153 0.27%
Asian 231 0.41%
Pacific Islander 7 0.01%
Other/Mixed 2,292 4.07%
Hispanic or Latino 1,181 2.1%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 56,356 people, 23,784 households, and 15,256 families residing in the county.

Communities

Elk-Avenue-Elizabethton-tn1
Elk Avenue in Elizabethton
Roan-Mountain-19E-tn1
U.S. 19E in Roan Mountain

Cities

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Education

  • Central Elementary School
  • Cloudland Elementary School
  • Cloudland High School
  • East Side Elementary School (city)
  • Elizabethton High School (city)
  • Hampton Elementary School
  • Hampton High School
  • Happy Valley Elementary School
  • Happy Valley Middle School
  • Happy Valley High School
  • Harold McCormick Elementary School (city)
  • Hunter Elementary School
  • Keenburg Elementary School
  • Little Milligan Elementary School
  • T.A. Dugger Junior High School (city)
  • Unaka Elementary School
  • Unaka High School
  • Valley Forge Elementary
  • West Side Elementary School (city)

Colleges

  • Northeast State Community College and the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology have satellite campuses in Elizabethton.
  • Milligan College's main campus and Emmanuel Christian Seminary are located in the community of Milligan College, part of Elizabethton.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Condado de Carter (Tennessee) para niños

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