Tennessee’s oldest town is older than Tennessee itself and it almost became its own country

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It’s older than Tennessee itself

Jonesborough has been around since 1779, which means it existed 17 years before Tennessee was even a state. That’s not just old for Tennessee.

That’s old for America. The town sits in the northeast corner of the state near Johnson City, and about 5,860 people call it home today.

Main Street still has cobblestone walkways, original storefronts, and old-fashioned streetlights. You walk down it and the 21st century just sort of falls away.

Wikimedia Commons/Brian Stansberry

The settlers here tried to break off and form their own state

North Carolina established Jonesborough as the county seat of Washington County, the first county carved out west of the Appalachian Mountains…

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