Topography & Migration

Location, Area, and Topography

Lake County , located in the northwest corner of Tennessee, is bounded on the north by Fulton County, Kentucky; on the east by Obion and Dyer Counties and Reelfoot Lake; on the south by Dyer County; and on the west by the Mississippi River.

Lake county is generally flat and contains about 104, 950 acres in land mass with 15,000 acres in lakes.

Northwest Tennessee lies in the 100-mile stretch between the great Mississippi River, flowing south, and the Tennessee River, flowing north. The head waters of the Obion, Forked Deer, and Hatchie Rivers are a short distance from the Tennessee River and flow west into the Mississippi, making this a unique chain of rivers to travel.

Migration

Early settlers floated north down the Tennessee River to the Mississippi going south and then up the Obion or Forked Deer into West Tennessee. When Northwest Tennessee was opened for land grants, the early settlers came through the thick forest on the ancient Indian Trails. These trails date to deSoto (1540-1541) when he discovered the Mississippi River at Chickasaw Bluff (now Memphis). Indian artifacts found in the area indicate that the Chickasaw and others hunted in the area.

County Boundary Changes

Lake County was part of Obion County from 1823 until 1870, when many West Tennessee counties were changed.

See 1830-1870 Obion County Census for early residents of the present Lake County.