Stewart County, Tennessee

History

Stewart County was created in 1803 from a portion of Montgomery County, and was named for Duncan Stewart, an early settler and state legislator. During the Battle of Fort Donelson, the county seat, Dover, was burned by Union troops to prevent its capture by General Nathan B. Forrest.

Tobaccoport Saltpeter Cave was intensely mined for saltpeter, possibly during the War of 1812. Saltpeter is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from the cave. This area fell under Union control in February 1862, early in the Civil War, and it seems unlikely that mining could have happened before that.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 493 square miles (1,280 km²), of which 459 square miles (1,190 km²) is land and 34 square miles (88 km²) (6.8%) is water. The county lies in a rugged section of the northwestern Highland Rim. The Cumberland River (part of Lake Barkley) traverses the county. The Tennessee River (part of Kentucky Lake) provides the county's border with Henry County to the west.

Federal and state agencies control nearly 44% of the land in the county.

Adjacent counties

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State protected areas

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,370 people, 4,930 households, and 3,653 families residing in the county. The population density was 27 people per square mile (10/km²). There were 5,977 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.27% White, 1.29% Black or African American, 0.61% Native American, 1.46% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 1.10% from two or more races. 1.00% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 4,930 households out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.30% were married couples living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.90% were non-families. 23.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.90% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 25.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,316, and the median income for a family was $38,655. Males had a median income of $31,106 versus $21,985 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,302. About 10.60% of families and 12.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.90% of those under age 18 and 15.60% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

The county is part of Tennessee's 8th congressional district, and traditionally votes Democratic. However, Stewart County has been trending Republican in recent presidential elections. In the 2008 presidential election, John McCain received approximately 53.7% of the vote. This made him the first Republican to carry the county. Stewart County was the sole county in Tennessee that had never voted for a Republican presidential candidate in the last 100 years. It was also the first time a Democratic candidate lost the county since the 1968 win by George Wallace of the American Independent Party.

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Unincorporated communities