Last updated: April 23, 2026
Situated between the Cumberland Plateau and the Tennessee River in southeastern Tennessee, Marion County was established in 1817 from former Cherokee lands and named for Revolutionary War brigadier general Francis Marion. Its county seat is Jasper. Across two centuries the county's story has included Cherokee Lower Towns, Civil War engagements, iron furnaces and coal mines, TVA dams, a silent-film actress from South Pittsburg, and a Holocaust memorial assembled by middle schoolers in Whitwell.
What's New?
Poultry
New subpage on Marion County's dominant modern farm industry: 918,298 broilers on inventory in 2022, 58 percent of county farm sales, a rank of 16 out of 95 Tennessee counties in poultry receipts, and the contract-grower economy tied to the Koch Foods Chattanooga complex.
Agriculture
New subpage on Marion County row crops, cow-calf cattle, hay, the Tennessee Century Farms program, and specialty operations including Sequatchie Cove Farm and Creamery. Built from the USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture county profile.
Labor History
New subpage on Marion County industrial labor: the 1892 Coal Creek War at the Inman stockade, 109 deaths at Hales Bar Dam, the 1939 Orme coal strike, the 1927 Christmas Night Shootout at H. Wetter, the 1981 No. 21 Mine explosion, and the 1981 Penn-Dixie union vote.
Tourism & Recreation
New subpage on the post-extraction economy: Foster Falls climbing and Denny Cove, Nickajack Lake, Sweetens Cove Golf Club, hang gliding at Henson Gap, the National Cornbread Festival, and the I-24 and Jasper Highlands residential-tourism cluster.
Explore
The sections below cover the county's history, communities, landscape, industries, schools, culture, and the people who shaped the valley from the Cherokee era to the present.
Interactive Timeline
A filterable timeline of events from the Chickamauga era to the 2020 Easter tornadoes, organized by era and category.
History
From the Cherokee Lower Towns and the Chickamauga Wars through the Civil War, the British-capital industrial boom, the TVA era, and into the present.
Communities
Jasper, South Pittsburg, Whitwell, Monteagle, and the smaller named places, present and historical, across the county.
Industry & Economy
Coal mines, coke ovens, the NC&StL Railway, Hales Bar Dam, Lodge Cast Iron, Dixie Portland Cement, and the I-24 corridor that reshaped the valley.
Geography & Nature
The Tennessee River Gorge, Nickajack Cave, Foster Falls, the Cumberland Trail, and the Sequatchie Valley that defines the county.
Culture & Traditions
The National Cornbread Festival, Lodge Cast Iron, the Paper Clips Project, and Appalachian folk traditions of the Sequatchie Valley.
Education
Antebellum academies, the Rosenwald-funded McReynolds High School, the Richard Hardy Memorial, and three modern high schools across the county.
Notable Figures
Cherokee leaders, Civil War officers, two governors, a Scopes Trial judge, a silent-film actress, and the industrialists who built the valley's economy.
Demographics
Population, race, income, and employment data for Marion County from the 1820 census through the 2020 count of 28,837.