For the first families who settled here, the county seat at Elizabethton in Carter County was a long, hard trip over the mountains. That distance led to the creation of a new county.
Early settlers
According to the Town of Mountain City, the first permanent settlers arrived in the late 1700s. They included Leonard Shoun and Alexander Doran, a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
A new county: 1836
Johnson County was organized in 1836, named for Thomas Johnson, a leading citizen of Carter County and an early settler on the Doe River. The first county court met on May 2, 1836, at the Pleasant Grove School House.
A county seat was laid out that same year on land purchased from William P. Vaught and named Taylorsville, in honor of Colonel James P. Taylor. The first courthouse was completed in 1837 and the jail in 1839. Taylorsville was incorporated in 1866.
Taylorsville becomes Mountain City: 1885
In 1885 the town was renamed Mountain City, to reflect its setting in one of the highest valleys in Tennessee. The change is credited to Roderick R. Butler, a prominent citizen and U.S. Congressman. His 19th-century home, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, still stands near the center of town.
Railroads, timber and green beans
The railroad reached Mountain City in 1910. Built to haul timber and manganese, it helped those industries grow in the early 1900s. Agriculture remained important too: in the first half of the 20th century, Johnson County was known as the “Green Bean Capital of the World.”
The county has had three courthouses: the first completed in 1837, a second in 1894, and the current courthouse, built in 1958.
Do you have family stories, old photographs or corrections to share about Mountain City’s history? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us.