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?
Festivals and Fairs
New consolidation hub for Marion County's year-round festival calendar: National Cornbread Festival since 1997, Whitwell Labor Day Celebration since 1959, Monteagle Mountain Market, Jasper's four-season town events, and the historical Marion County Fair.
Jim Oliver's Smoke House
New subpage on the Monteagle Mountain landmark: from the 1960 Beehive drive-in to the 1975 Smoke House Restaurant, the April 2021 fire that destroyed the main restaurant, and the continuing Patio Grill and lodge operations under the Oliver family's second generation.
Music Heritage
New subpage tracing the Sequatchie Valley fiddle tradition: Joseph Decosimo's 2012 Sequatchie Valley album, Clyde Davenport's Cumberland Plateau repertoire, Bob Douglas of Chattanooga, and the Two Poor Boys' 1927–1931 commercial recordings.
Cemeteries
New subpage on Marion County's burial grounds: Kelly's Ferry Cemetery (NRHP 2006), the Bean-Roulston Cemetery with its unidentified Confederate dead from the 1862 Battle of Sweeden's Cove, the partially submerged Long Cemetery at Mullins Cove, and the historic Black cemeteries of South Pittsburg.
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.