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A Little History
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Main Street Jonesborough: May Building, old telephone exchange, Naff-Henley House, Sweet Shop. Line drawing by the late George Dukes.
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The Lost State of Franklin
Prior to Tennessee statehood, the east Tennessee region almost became the state of Franklin. After Jonesborough was founded in 1779, a group of citizens from this and the surrounding area (then a part of the Western District of North Carolina) felt they were not represented fairly nor protected by their state leaders. On December 14, 1784, delegates from these areas convened in Jonesborough to approve the formation of a new state, the state of Franklin, named after one of the great leaders of the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin. This new state ensured citizens could create their own laws and elect their own leaders.
Jonesborough served as the capital of Franklin until a new capital was established in nearby Greeneville. John Sevier, one of the most influential leaders in the development of Franklin, was elected its first governor in March, 1785. Franklin functioned as the nation’s fourteenth state until 1788, but was never recognized by Congress. After many negotiations and skirmishes, which climaxed in the Battle of the State of Franklin, North Carolina once again reclaimed the lands. Today, the State of Franklin is often remembered as the “Lost State of Franklin”.
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Jonesborough - Tennessee’s First Town
Jonesborough was founded in 1779 to be the county seat of Washington County, North Carolina. The town was named after Willie Jones, one of the few North Carolina legislatures who approved of the state’s westward movement. Although Jonesborough is named for him, it is thought that Mr. Jones never visited the town. Jonesborough had been established for fourteen years when Tennessee became the sixteenth state in 1796.
Jonesborough has gone through many changes since 1779, but thanks to the restoration and preservation movement of the 1970’s, many of the older buildings are still standing today and are just as beautiful as ever. Jonesborough was the first town in Tennessee to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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The Chester Inn is the oldest building original to Jonesborough’s commercial district. William Chester, a medical doctor, constructed the building in 1797 to capitalize on those traveling through Jonesborough on the Great Stage Road. Now fully restored, the wooden frame building is owned by the State of Tennessee and houses Storytelling Foundation International. Many famous guests stayed at the Chester Inn during its successful days of operation as an inn including Presidents Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson and James K. Polk. It is reported that during Andrew Jackson’s stay, he helped fight a nearby fire while wearing only his nightshirt.
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Speaking of President Jackson, he was no stranger to Jonesborough. A self-taught lawyer and young man of 20 years, Jackson had been working in Salisbury, North Carolina, when the opportunity arose for him to travel to the western lands and help open court on the Cumberland (now Nashville). Jackson came to Jonesborough in 1788 to await a caravan to travel westward since traveling alone through Native American territory was dangerous. Jackson stayed in Jonesborough for nearly five months waiting for enough travelers to fill a caravan before traveling to the Cumberland to work as a public prosecutor. While in Jonesborough, he took the oath of office to practice law in the western district of North Carolina and served as an attorney in Jonesborough. He lodged at a two-story log home owned by Christopher Taylor. Taylor had been sent to Jonesborough by the state of North Carolina to help protect the residents from Indian attacks. Though small by today’s standards, Taylor thought his two-room home had enough space to accommodate boarders, his wife, and their 13 children. The 1788 Christopher Taylor Home, Jonesborough’s oldest building, has since been restored and moved to Main Street’s Historic District.
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Though part of a slave-holding state prior to the Civil War, Jonesborough produced the first regularly published periodical devoted exclusively to abolishing slavery. The Emancipator, published and funded by Quaker Elihu Embree, began circulation on April 30, 1820, and was printed in Jacob Howard’s print shop. East Tennessee had strong Union leanings; its climate could not support the cultivation of cotton, requiring less slave labor. Jacob Howard’s print shop, now destroyed, stood on the corner of Main Street and First Avenue in Jonesborough’s Historic District.
Dr. Samuel Cunningham, another resident of Jonesborough, was an internationally known physician and surgeon of the 18th century. He was self-taught, practicing medicine long before being licensed. Dr. Cunningham built his house on Main Street where it still stands today. Though a well-published writer and skilled surgeon, he was interested in bringing the new and efficient railroad transportation system to Jonesborough. Dr. Cunningham put his medical practice on hold for 10 years to bring the railroad to Jonesborough, serving as president of the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad from 1849 to 1859. Cunningham and 29 other men, called “The Immortal Thirty”, put their own personal properties up for collateral in order to bring the railroad to town. After retiring from the railroad, Dr. Cunningham returned to practicing medicine.
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Town of Jonesborough
Phone: 423.753.1030
123 Boone St.
Jonesborough, TN 37659
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