Jefferson county is crossed by the East Tennessee, Virgina and Georgia Railroad and touched on its eastern boundary by the branch road from Morristown to Wolf Creek.*
The county seat is Dandridge, which has 431 inhabitants. Other towns are, New Market, Mossy Creek, Talbott, Mt. Horeb, Kansas and other villages.
Its navigable streams are the French Broad and Holston. It is also watered by a number of smaller streams, furnishing fine water power.
The surface of the county is undulating, made up of valleys and rounded hills. The soil is fertile, yielding large crops of the products common to East Tennessee.
It is well timbered with the usual varieties of timber, and contains deposits of marble, some of which are exquisitely beautiful.**
It has good schools and the usual religious denominations and the usual local taxation.
Much attention is given to the improvement of stock, and the farmers are, as a class, thrifty and independent.
*The Rogersville and Jefferson Railroad connects Jefferson and Hawkins Counties after the Civil War. [page 95]
**Jefferson County contains a large quantity of marble, from the beds of which beautiful specimens have been obtained, but no extensive quarrying has yet been done. [page 45] Lead ore is found in the counties of ... Jefferson ... [page 41]
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Source: Hawkins, A. W., and Colton, Henry E., eds. Hand-book of Tennessee. Knoxville: Whig and Chronicle Steam Book and Job Printing Office (1882), pg. 96.
