Blount County, Tennessee

Blount County is a located in the  of. Its population was 105,823 at the. The 2006 Census Estimate placed the population at 118,186 . The is at, which is also the county's largest city.

It is included in the.

History
What is today Blount County was for many thousands of years Indian territory, passed down to the tribe that claimed the land upon the arrival of white settlers in the late 18th century. Shortly thereafter, On July 11,, Blount County became the tenth county established in Tennessee, when the Territorial Legislature voted to split adjacent and  counties. The new county was named for the governor of the state of Tennessee,, and its county seat, Maryville, was named for his wife Mary Grainger Blount. This establishment, however, did little to settle the differences between white immigrants and Cherokee natives, which was, for the most part, not accomplished until an 1819 treaty.

Throughout its history the boundaries of Blount County have been altered numerous times, most notably in 1870 when a large swath of western Blount was split into Loudon and portions of other counties. Also, the establishment of the in 1936, while not affecting the territory of Blount County, has significantly impacted the use of southeastern Blount.

Economy
Most of the early settlers were of very little means, existing on subsistence-based agriculture throughout the early years of the county's establishment. The first industry to make its mark on Blount County, as in other neighboring counties, was that of lumber. It was the massive development of this industry in the mountains of east Blount that, in part, led to the creation of the, which includes the southeastern portion of the county. Today manufacturing is

Government
The following list consists of the current elected members of the Blount County government:
 * County Mayor: Jerry Cunningham
 * Commissioners: Bob Arwood, Bob Profitt, Dennis Cardin , Donna Dowdy , W. C. Evans, Joe Everett, Gary Farmer, David Graham, Steve Gray, Steve Hargis, John Keeble, Bob Kidd, Robby Kirkland , Jeff McCall, Kenneth Melton, David Ballard, Otto Slater, Ernest Tallent, Shirley Townsend, and Mike Walker'
 * Sheriff: James Berrong
 * Highway Chief Administrative Officer: Bill Dunlap
 * Trustee: Scott Graves
 * Assessor of Property: Mike Morton
 * County Clerk: Roy Crawford Jr.
 * Register of Deeds: Penny Whaley
 * Clerk & Master: James Carroll
 * Circuit Court Clerk: Thomas Hatcher

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,468 (567 ). 1,447 km² (559 sq mi) of it is land and 21 km² (8 sq mi) of it (1.43%) is water.

The foothills of the determine much of Blount County's landscape, with a segment of the  extending into southeastern Blount County. In addition to the dominant mountains, the flows through the county and forms several  created by the.

Adjacent counties

 * - north
 * - east
 * - south
 * - southwest
 * - west

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 105,823 people, 42,667 households, and 30,634 families residing in the county. The was 73/km² (190/sq mi). There were 47,059 housing units at an average density of 33/km² (84/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 94.73%, 2.91% or , 0.29% , 0.72% , 0.03% , 0.34% from , and 0.99% from two or more races. 1.06% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 42,667 households out of which 30.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.40% were living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.20% are classified as non-families by the. Of the 42,667 households, 1,384 are unmarried partner households: 1,147 heterosexual, 107 same-sex male, 130 same-sex female. 24.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the county, the population was spread out with 22.80% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 29.40% from 25 to 44, 25.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,862, and the median income for a family was $45,038. Males had a median income of $31,877 versus $23,007 for females. The for the county was $19,416. About 7.30% of families and 9.70% of the population were below the, including 12.30% of those under age 18 and 9.10% of those age 65 or over.

Parks
In addition to the federally operated Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which draws many visitors to the county each year, Blount County operates numerous smaller community parks and recreation centers, primarily in the cities of Alcoa and Maryville. Some of these facilities include:
 * Amerine Park (Maryville)
 * Bassell Courts (Alcoa)
 * Eagleton Park (Maryville)
 * Everett Athletic Complex (Maryville)
 * Everett Park/Everett Senior Center (Maryville)
 * Howe Street Park (Alcoa)
 * John Sevier Park/Pool (Maryville)
 * Louisville Point Park (Louisville)
 * Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (Alcoa)
 * Oldfield Mini Park (Alcoa)
 * Pearson Springs Park (Maryville)
 * Pole Climbers Athletic Fields (Alcoa)
 * Richard Williams Park (Alcoa)
 * Rock Garden Park (Alcoa)
 * Sandy Springs Park (Maryville)
 * Springbrook Park/Pool (Alcoa)

Schools, Colleges and Universities
See for a full list of county schools.

Blount County is home to two post-secondary educational institutions:, in downtown Maryville, and a satellite campus of based , referred to as Pellissippi State Technical Community College, Blount County Campus.

Paratransit
Blount County is served by the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency's Public Transit system. ETHRA, as it is commonly referred to, operates over sixteen counties in eastern Tennessee, and is headquartered in the nearby city of. The service offers residents of any of the counties covered by ETHRA door-to-door pickup transportation across its service area by request only.

Airports
TYS,

Highways





 * TN State Route 33
 * TN State Route 35
 * TN State Route 73
 * TN State Route 162
 * TN State Route 162
 * TN State Route 162


 * Secondary Primary Routes
 * TN Secondary Primary Route 333
 * TN Secondary Primary Route 334
 * TN Secondary Primary Route 335
 * TN Secondary Primary Route 336
 * TN Secondary Primary Route 337
 * TN Secondary Primary Route 429
 * TN Secondary Primary Route 446
 * TN Secondary Primary Route 447