Maps and features pertaining to Johnson County, TN
From Goodspeed's History of Johnson County:
"JOHNSON COUNTY is the extreme eastern county of the State. It is bounded on the north by Virginia and on the east and southeast by North Carolina. The area in acres is 249,600, or in square miles about 890. It is well watered by springs and streams. The Watauga River forms the dividing line between this county and Carter for a short distance, and receives the principal stream of the former, Roane Creek. The remaining streams of the county are Little Doe River, a tributary of Roane Creek, and Laurel Fork and Beaverdam Creek, which waters enter the Holston River. The surface of the county is usually broken. The Iron Mountain traverses it from northeast to southwest, and Stone Mountain marks the boundary of North Carolina. Doe Mountain lies wholly within the county, and extends a distance of about twelve miles. The most fertile lands lie along Little Doe, Roane Creek and the district known as Shady. The mineral resources are exceedingly valuable. This is especially true of iron ore, which exists in extensive beds, and for nearly a hundred years has been worked in a small way."
This entire document is available at the TNGenWeb Archives:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tn/johnson.htm
From "American Trails and Roads Reference Cards, Kansas City, Missouri: Genealogy Tutor, Beverly Whitaker, 1995."
THE WILDERNESS ROAD
The road through the Cumberland Gap was not officially named "the Wilderness Road" until 1796 when it was widened enough to allow Conestoga Wagons to travel on it. However, by the time Kentucky had become a state (1792), estimates are that 70,000 settlers had poured into the area through the Cumberland Gap, following this route. The Cumberland Gap was first called Cave Gap by the man who discovered it in 1750--Dr. Thomas Walker. Daniel Boone, whose name is always associated with the Gap, reached it in 1769, passing through it into the Blue Grass region, a hunting ground of Indian tribes. He returned in 1775 with about 30 woodsmen with rifles and axes to mark out a road through the Cumberland Gap, hired for the job by the Transylvania Company. Boone's men completed the blazing of this first trail through the Cumberland Mountains that same year, and established Boonesborough on the Kentucky River. The Wilderness Road connected to the Great Valley Road which came through the Shenandoah Valley from Pennsylvania. Some suggest the origin of the Wilderness Road was at Fort Chiswell (Ft. Chissel) on the Great Valley Road where roads converged from Philadelphia and Richmond. Others claimed the beginning of the road to be at Sapling Grove (today's Bristol, VA) which lay at the extreme southern end of the Great Valley Road since it was at that point that the road narrowed, forcing travelers to abandon their wagons.
1834 Map of what would become Johnson County
Map Mountain City & Johnson County Tennessee
1895 Atlas Tennessee -A transcription of information from an 1895 World Atlas along with a digitized map of the state
Boundaries of Johnson County - Courtesy of Margaret Hougland.
View Historic Tennessee Maps
Color Landform Maps of Tennessee
1818 Tennessee map (1790's county lines)
Return to Johnson County Index
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Last modified on: November 1, 2000