History - City History

Even though Elizabethton was founded in 1799 as the county seat of Carter County, the town did not have an organized form of government until the early years of this century.

Landon Carter

The legislature appointed a commission of five members, Landon Carter, Reuben Thornton, Andrew Greer, Zachariah Campbell and David McNabb, to establish a county seat including a courthouse and prison.

The committee selected a 50-acre tract at the base of Lynn Mountain, east of the Doe River. Elizabethton was named in honor of Elizabeth MacLin Carter, wife of Landon, for whom the county had been named.

The land was divided into 77 lots, most of which contained one-half acre. All the lots save two were sold at public lottery. By an act of the legislature passed Oct. 23, 1799, the 50 acres was officially recognized as the town of Elizabethton.

Originally, the town was located east of the Doe River, but in 1897 a new 15th district was formed west of the Doe and A.H. Taylor, a Democrat, and R.T. Johnson, a Republican, were elected as the first magistrates to represent the new district on County Court.

According to a "Later History of Carter County," written by local historian, Frank Merritt, several Elizabethton residents met in 1903 with the hopes of incorporating a county seat. However, it took a couple of years for their efforts for incorporation to be successful. The city of Elizabethton began operating under a new charter on May 13, 1905, when the city's first Board of Aldermen held an organizational meeting.

The first mayor was R.A. Smith and aldermen were W.S. Whiting, Samuel Shell, W.R. Allen, C.G. Beasley, and S.E. Reynolds.

In 1922 the City Manager form of government was adopted to replace the Board of Aldermen. The first municipal building was constructed in 1926 and occupied in 1927. The building was located at the intersection of Sycamore St. and Hattie Ave.

Another charter change was made in 1965 to the Modified City Manager-Council form of government. In the fall of 1989, the present City Hall, located across the street from the first City Hall, was occupied.

The City since 1928 has been served by 28 different mayors, and since 1922, the city has had 15 different city managers.