Huntsville, Tennessee
| Huntsville, Tennessee | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
The courthouse square in Huntsville
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 Location of Huntsville, Tennessee |
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| Coordinates: 36°24′39″N 84°29′42″W / 36.41083°N 84.49500°WCoordinates: 36°24′39″N 84°29′42″W / 36.41083°N 84.49500°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Tennessee |
| County | Scott |
| Founded | 1850 |
| Incorporated | 1965 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.3 sq mi (8.6 km2) |
| • Land | 3.3 sq mi (8.6 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,319 ft (402 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,248 |
| • Density | 295.3/sq mi (114.0/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 37756 |
| Area code(s) | 423 |
| FIPS code | 47-36640 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1288766 |
Huntsville is a town in Scott County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 981 at the 2000 census and 1,248 at the 2010 census, showing an increase of 267. It is the county seat of Scott County.
Huntsville was named after a long hunter known only by the surname "Hunt." This long hunter camped under a rock shelter in the mid-18th century and later moved his family to the area. When Scott County was formed in 1849, Huntsville was chosen as the county seat due to the site's central location within the new county as well as an excellent spring that flowed across the property.
During the U.S. Civil War, Scott County was staunchly pro-Union. In Tennessee's June 1861 referendum on secession, the county voted 541-19 against secession, the highest percentage of any county in Tennessee. In spite of fierce opposition from Scott and other East Tennessee counties, the ordinance passed and Tennessee seceded from the Union. Later that year, Scott County voted unanimously to secede from Tennessee and formed the Independent State of Scott.
In 1906, a new courthouse square was built in Huntsville using a beige-colored native sandstone for the buildings' outer walls. Although the courthouse burned in 1946, two of these sandstone buildings remain— the First National Bank building and the Old Scott County Jail. Both have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Baker family, which arrived in the Huntsville area shortly after the Civil War, has been active in state and national politics for several decades. James F. Baker (1864–1934) was a successful attorney and newspaper publisher. Baker's son, Howard H. Baker, Sr. (1902–1964), was the Republican candidate for governor of Tennessee in 1938 and later served in the U.S. House of Representatives.Howard H. Baker, Jr. (1925-2014), son of Howard Sr., was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1966 and gained national attention as Vice Chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973. Baker later served as Senate Majority Leader (1981–1985) and White House Chief of Staff (1987–1988).
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