This & That A rugged trip to the county seat helped form Johnson
County By Jack SwiftAs we study the history of our great county
and how it came to be, it is important that we in our
imagination try to transport ourselves back to the time when
there were no hard topped highways, modern automobiles or any
easy ways to travel to distant destinations. The population was
increasing in Northeast Carter County and there was more and
more need to do business in Elizabethton, the county seat of
Carter County. Folks up in this part of the county became
somewhat aggravated, to say the least, about traveling over the
mountains and across the rivers and streams that lay between
their home and the county seat. No doubt traveling was a
grueling feat in those days. Walking and riding horseback were
probably the modes of travel for most Northeast Carter County
citizens. It was thought at that time that a person should be
able to travel to the county seat and back in the same day. The
folks in Northeast Carter County petition