Obion County, Tennessee Genealogy and History

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Obion County
Obion County was founded in 1823. It was named in honor of the Obion River, the chief watercourse in the county. Some say the name Obion is an Indian word meaning " many prongs", while others say it was the name of a French-Irish officer who explored the county at an early but unknown time. Obion County is generally level, though in some localities considerable hills arc found. The soil is a dark loam, with clay subsoil, and very fertile. Troy, the county town, has a population of 341. Other towns are Union City, Kives, Kenton, Woodland Mills, Harris, Fulton, Obion, East Troy, Palestine and Wilsonville. The water courses of this county are inconsiderable. The timber of Obion County is surpassingly fine, consisting of the various kinds of oak, poplar, beech, birch, gum, sassafras, ash, hickory, maple, walnut, etc. The principal products of the county are corn, wheat, oats-hay, cotton, tobacco, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, sorghum and rye. There are two colleges in the county - one at Union City and one at Troy. The religious denominations arc Baptists, Methodists, Cumberland Presbyterians, Presbyterians, Christians, Episcopalians, Lutherans and Catholics. Obion County has four furniture factories, four planing mills, fifty-four saw mills, one woolen mill, four flouring mills and two wagon factories. The capital invested in manufacturing is about one million dollars. The taxes are as follows: county tax on $100, 30 cents; road tax, 10 cents; school tax, 20 cents. Three railroads run through the county, viz: the Mobile and Ohio, the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis and the Memphis and Paducah. The number of hands engaged in manufacturing industries is about 1,600. [Source: Hand-book of Tennessee By A. W. Hawkins, Henry E. Colton 1882]

The county seat is Union City

Cities, Towns and Other Populated Places
Cities
South Fulton ~ Union City ~ Woodland Mills

Towns
Hornbeak ~ Kenton (partial) ~ Obion ~ Rives ~ Samburg ~ Trimble (partial) ~ Troy

Unincorporated Communities
Cunningham ~ Midway ~ Walnut Log