TENNESSEE COUNTIES CREATED BY NORTH CAROLINA: 1776-1790
Washington District
The District of Washington was officially recognized in 1776 as a part of the governmental structure of North Carolina. On August 22, 1776, the inhabitants living along the Watauga, Holston, and Nolachucky Rivers petitioned the Council of Safety saying that since they “are within the Bounds of this State” they wanted to be officially annexed to North Carolina, and wanted to be allowed to set up courts and to elect their representatives in the General Assembly. This petition was favorably acted upon and their representatives took their seats in the Provincial Congress at Halifax on November 19, 1776.
Counties by Date
| Date | County | Parent County |
| 1777 | Washington | District of Washington |
| 1779 | Sullivan | Washington |
| 1783 | Davidson | Washington |
| 1783 | Greene | Washington |
| 1787 | Hawkins | Sullivan |
| 1787 | Sumner | Davidson |
| 1788 | Tennessee | Davidson |
North Carolina ceded its western lands to the United States in 1789; Congress accepted the lands in 1790 and created the Territory South of the River Ohio.
In 1796 Tennessee County gave its name to the new state of Tennessee. The new state thereupon divided the territory formerly occupied by Tennessee County into Montgomery and Robertson Counties.
Original records created in a Tennessee county remain in the custody of the courthouse of the county in which they were created. Records of Tennessee County are filed with those of Montgomery County. Microfilmed copies of all bound, permanently-kept county records as well as loose records when extant are available at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.
For information on Tennessee records held by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, see Records Relating to Tennessee in the North Carolina State Archives, Archives Information Circular No. 3, revised 2002, at http://www.archives.ncdcr.gov/FindingAids/Circulars/AIC3.pdf.
Source: David L. Corbitt, The Formation of the North Carolina Counties, 1663-1943. Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1950 [sixth printing, 2000]. Map by L. Polk Denmark. Used by permission of the North Carolina Office of Archives and History.
