Georgetown is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

at the junction of

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, and Meigs counties,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. The community is located along State Route 60 near its intersection with State Route 58. The Bradley County portion of Georgetown is part of the

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, TN

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

, while the Hamilton County portion is part of the

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, TN– GA

. Georgetown is the place name associated with

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

zip code 37336. The

Zip Code Tabulation Area ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) are statistical entities developed by the United States Census Bureau for tabulating summary statistics. These were introduced with the Census 2000 and continued with the 2010 Census and 5 year American Community S ...

for that zip code had a population of 5,337, according to the

2020 U.S. Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

.Zip Code Tabulation Aree 37336
, U.S. Census website

History

Georgetown is located along

Tennessee State Route 60 State Route 60 (SR 60) is a north-south major state route in Eastern Tennessee. It covers and runs from the Tennessee-Georgia state line in Bradley County to Dayton joining US 27. Route description Bradley County SR 60 begins at the Georgia ...

, along what was part of the main Northern Route of the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

in 1838. According to tradition, the village was named for Cherokee trader, George Fields, who owned a two-story log home and operated a trading post at the intersection of now Georgetown Road and Francisco Road in the early 1800s. "An affluent merchant who operated a flatboat on the Hiwassee and Tennessee Rivers, he was also a slave owner and leader in tribal politics. His two-story log dwelling, known as the George House, bears the date of 1812." The "George House" burned and was dismantled in 2014. It is believed that George Fields was buried just east of where his home once stood. In the late 1800s Georgetown was an active trading center featuring several gristmills, tanneries, and sawmills. Goods arrived in nearby Cleveland via the Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad and were transported by wagon to the village. Several of the main items produced for market during this time were corn, wheat and bacon. Georgetown's first post office was established as "Limestone" in March 9, 1837 and was changed to "Georgetown" in 1867. It has since been located in four different counties, including James County, "The Lost County of Tennessee", which dissolved in 1919. It currently operates in Meigs County. Properties on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

located in Georgetown:

Education

The Georgetown Academy, founded in 1847 by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, is the earliest school of record in Georgetown. Located about a quarter mile southwest from the intersection of TN SR 60 and Ooltewah-Georgetown Road, it is believed to have been operated until around the time of the Civil War. The second floor of the school was the location of the Limestone Lodge No. 176 F. & A.M. chartered in 1849.

Notable people

* Greg Vital - American conservationist, businessman, and District 29 Tennessee State Representative. *

Wilburn Cartwright Wilburn Cartwright (January 12, 1892 – March 14, 1979) was a lawyer, educator, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma, and United States Army officer in World War II. The town of Cartwright, Oklahoma is named after him. Early life Born on a fa ...

– lawyer, educator, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma, and United States Army officer in World War II was born here.

References

{{Coord, 35.286, -84.945, display=title Unincorporated communities in Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Meigs County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Bradley County, Tennessee Unincorporated communities in Hamilton County, Tennessee Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee Chattanooga metropolitan area