SULLIVAN COUNTY was formed in 1779 by division from Washington County and named for General John Sullivan, an officer in the Continental Army. On February 7, 1780, the county court was organized at the home of Moses Looney, Sullivan County’s first boundaries included Hawkins County, which was broken off from Sullivan in 1786. The county courts met in residences (in the county) including Looney’s and Yancey’s (near Kingsport) and Cox’s, at Thomas Bridge, until 1795. State of Franklin: North Carolina, finding the protection of the western lands difficult, offered them to the United States in 1783, then withdrew the offer. Washington, Sullivan, and Greene Counties organized the State of Franklin in 1784. During this period the people had divided loyalties and operated with two sets of government officials – one North Carolina’s – one Franklin’s. The State of Franklin collapsed in 1788.

Southwest Territory to State: North Carolina again offered its western lands to the United States and in 1790 Congress passed an act for governing the “Southwest Territory” with William Blount as first Territorial Governor. Blount operated the Government, for a short period, at Rocky Mount. Sullivan County was on the main overland routes west as well as the “head of navigation” of the Tennessee River System and grew rapidly – 1790 census showed 4,447 persons in the county and Governor Blount’s 1795 report showed 8,457. Tennessee was admitted to the union June 1, 1796 as the 16th state.

Blountville, the County Seat, was laid off as a town in 1795, with the first courthouse built of massive logs with a jail in the rear. It was replaced in 1825 by a brick courthouse and jail. The present courthouse was built in 1853, burned with nearly all its archives in 1863 by Federal forces during the Civil War, rebuilt within the walls in 1866, remodeled in 1920, and additions made in 1958. A new jail was built in 1956. In 1988, the jail was moved to the site of the County’s Justice Center, which was completed in 1989.

Other towns in Sullivan County: Bluff City (Shoate’s Ford, Zollicoffer, or Union), a planned town by 1798. Kingsport, settlement attempted in 1761, permanently settled in 1770’s, boating migration from this point made it known as “The Boat Yard,” 1802 – laid out as town of Christianville, 1818 – another town, Rossville, laid out adjacent to it – these two towns incorporated as Kingsport in 1822. Paperville, named for a paper mill built by Burkhart who settled here in 1794, was a town about 1810. Bristol, settled in 1770’s known as “Sapling Grove” and section nearby, known as “King’s Meadows,” became a town in 1853.

The war between the states found Sullivan County with bitterly divided loyalties. It was the site of much activity with two battles, one in Blountville and one in Kingsport. The railroad, completed in 1859, was the target of many raids and much destruction.