Blount County is a county located in the East Tennessee Grand Division of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 135,280. The county seat is Maryville, which is also the county's largest city. Blount County is included in the Knoxville metropolitan area.
History What is today Blount County was for many thousands of years Indian territory, passed down to the Cherokee tribe that claimed the land upon the arrival of White settlers in the late 18th century. Shortly thereafter, on July 11, 1795, Blount County became the 10th county established in Tennessee, when the Territorial Legislature voted to split adjacent Knox and Jefferson Counties. The new county was named for the governor of the Southwest Territory, William Blount, and its county seat, Maryville, was named for his wife Mary Grainger Blount. This establishment, however, did little to settle the differences between White immigrants and Cherokee natives, which was, for the most part, not accomplished until an 1819 treaty.About Blount County Blount County official website
Like a majority of East Tennessee counties, Blount County was opposed to secession on the eve of the Civil War. In Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession referendum on June 8, 1861, Blount Countians voted against secession by a margin of 1,766 to 414.Oliver Perry Temple, East Tennessee and the Civil War (R. Clarke Company, 1899), p. 199. Residents of pro-Union Cades Cove and pro-Confederate Hazel Creek (on the other side of the mountains in North Carolina) regularly launched raids against one another during the war.Durwood Dunn, Cades Cove: The Life and Death of An Appalachian Community (University of Tennessee Press, 1988), pp. 134-136.
Throughout its history, the boundaries of Blount County have been altered numerous times, most notably in 1870, when a large swath of western Blount was split into Loudon and portions of other counties. Also, the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1936, while not affecting the legal boundaries of Blount County, has significantly impacted the use of southeastern Blount County.Lansford, D., and D. Waterworth. "Blount County History," TNGenWeb Project
Blount County has been served by The Daily Times, currently published in Maryville, since 1883.
On July 2, 2015, a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed. About 5,000 residents were displaced from their homes within a two-mile (three-kilometer) radius.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (1.4%) are covered by water.
The southern part of Blount County is part of the Great Smoky Mountains, and is protected by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The crest of the range forms the county's border with Swain County, North Carolina, and includes Blount's highest point, Thunderhead Mountain, and the Gregory Bald, a prominent grassy bald. The northern part of the county is part of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians.Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, et al., "Ambient Air Monitoring Plan," Environmental Protection Agency website, July 1, 2010, p. 6. Accessed: March 18, 2015. The geologic boundary between the Blue Ridge (which includes the Smokies) and Ridge-and-Valley provinces runs along Chilhowee Mountain, a long and narrow ridge that stretches across the central part of the county.Harry Moore, A Roadside Guide to the Geology of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1988), p. 149. Much of Blount's topography is characterized by elongate ridges and rolling hills—known locally as "The Foothills"—which emanate outward from the Smokies range.
The mountainous southern portion of Blount County is dotted by relatively isolated valleys known as Appalachian coves. The best known of these valleys, Cades Cove, is one of the most visited sections of the national park, and is noted for the remnants of the Appalachian community that occupied the cove prior to the park's formation, as well as an abundance of wildlife, especially white-tailed deer. Tuckaleechee Cove is occupied by the city of Townsend, and Millers Cove is occupied by the community of Walland. This part of the county is also home to two large caves: Tuckaleechee Caverns, a popular show cave, and Bull Cave, which at , is the deepest in Tennessee.Larry E. Matthews, Caves of Knoxville and the Great Smoky Mountains, 2008, , pages 171–173.
The Tennessee River forms part of Blount's border with Knox County to the northwest. This section of the Tennessee is part of Fort Loudoun Lake, an artificial lake created by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Little Tennessee River, a tributary of the Tennessee, forms part of Blount's southern border with Monroe County, and includes three artificial lakes: Tellico, Chilhowee, and Calderwood (two others, Cheoah and Fontana, are located just upstream in North Carolina). Little River, another tributary of the Tennessee, flows northward from deep within the Smokies and traverses the central part of the county. The river's confluence with its Middle Prong forms a popular swimming area known as the "Townsend Wye", which is located just inside the park south of Townsend.
Geographical features Great Smoky Mountains Chilhowee Mountain Thunderhead Mountain Gregory Bald Lake in the Sky Look Rock Fort Loudoun Lake Chilhowee Lake Little River Little Tennessee River
Adjacent counties Knox County, Tennessee – north Sevier County, Tennessee – east Swain County, North Carolina – southeast Graham County, North Carolina – south Monroe County, Tennessee – southwest Loudon County, Tennessee – west
National protected areas Appalachian Trail (part) Foothills Parkway (part) Great Smoky Mountains National Park (part)
State protected areas Foothills Wildlife Management Area Sam Houston Schoolhouse (state historic site) Kyker Bottoms Refuge Tellico Lake Wildlife Management Area (part) Whites Mill Refuge
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Blount County, Tennessee – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)74,49082,20799,596113,240117,95295.78%95.62%94.12%92.06%87.19%Black or African American alone (NH)2,5662,7803,0523,3143,5523.30%3.23%2.88%2.69%2.63%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)1041902823653390.13%0.22%0.27%0.30%0.25%Asian alone (NH)1354057598631,2800.17%0.47%0.72%0.70%0.95%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census262523xx0.02%0.02%0.02%Other race alone (NH)5419541094390.07%0.02%0.05%0.09%0.32%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census9341,6535,986xx0.88%1.34%4.42%Hispanic or Latino (any race)4213681,1203,4415,7090.54%0.43%1.06%2.80%4.22%Total77,77085,969105,823123,010135,280 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, 135,280 people, 54,720 households, and 35,299 families were residing in the county.
The racial makeup of the county is detailed in the table above, with non-Hispanic White residents forming the majority and smaller Black, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, and other or multiracial populations; Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 4.22% of the population.
The median age was 43.9 years, with 20.4% of residents under the age of 18 and 21.1% aged 65 or older. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.7 males.
62.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 37.2% lived in rural areas.
There were 54,720 households in the county, of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 52.7% were married-couple households, 16.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 59,776 housing units, of which 8.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 73.4% were owner-occupied and 26.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.8%.
2000 census As of the census of 2000, 105,823 people, 42,667 households, and 30,634 families were residing in the county. The population density was . The 47,059 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.73% White, 2.91% Black, 0.29% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.37% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. About 1.06% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.
Of the 42,667 households, 30.5% had children under 18 living with them, 58.4% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.2% were not families, and 1,384 were unmarried partner households: 1,147 heterosexual, 107 same-sex male, 130 same-sex female. About 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.43, and the average family size was 2.88.
In the county, the age distribution was 22.8% under 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 29.40% from 25 to 44, 25.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.80 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 90.80 males. As verified by 2000 U.S. Census, for every 100 females under 65, there were 98.7 males, for every 100 females under 55 there were 99.5 males, and for every 100 females under 20 there were 105 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $37,862, and for a family was $45,038. Males had a median income of $31,877 versus $23,007 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,416. About 7.3% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.3% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those 65 or over.
Government
Like most of East Tennessee, Blount County has been a Republican bastion for decades. The last non-Republican to carry the county was Theodore Roosevelt, during his third-party run in 1912. In 1976, Jimmy Carter took 46% of the vote. In 1992, George H. W. Bush was held to 48.9% of the vote—the only time in over a century that a Republican has failed to win a majority in Blount County. No Democrat since Andrew Jackson in 1832 has won Blount County at the presidential level.
The current elected members of the Blount County government are:Blount County , National Association of Counties website Commissioners:
Blount County government County executive Ed Mitchell Assessor of property Todd Orr Clerk and master Stephen Ogle County clerk Gaye Hasty Clerk of courts Chris Cantrell County treasurer District attorney Ryan Desmond Registrar of deeds Phyllis Crisp Chief highway officer Jeff Headrick Registrar of probate County sheriff James Berrong Trustee Scott Graves State government State representative(s) 2 Representatives: Jerome Moon (R-Tennessee District 8), Tom Stinnett (R-Tennessee District 20) State senator(s) 1 Senators: Tom Hatcher (politician) (R-Tennessee District 8) Federal government U.S. representative(s) Tim Burchett (R-2nd District) U.S. senators Bill Hagerty (R)Marsha Blackburn (R)
Economy Most of the early European-American settlers were of little means; they were subsistence farmers throughout the early years of the county's establishment. The first industry to make its mark on Blount County, as in other neighboring counties, was that of lumber.