Prehistory and early settlement Archaeological evidence suggests a significant population of
mound building Native Americans in the county, with several mounds located near the
Tennessee River at Lady's Bluff. One of the largest mounds in the state was built between 1000 and 1300 CE in the county on Cedar Creek. Though it has been reduced in size due to erosion and agricultural activity, it still measures approximately high and in circumference. Archaeological surveys conducted in the 1970s and 1980s discovered evidence of
early Archaic through
late Woodland settlement concentrated in bottomland (low-lying alluvial land) in the Tennessee River basin near Mousetail Landing State Park, with evidence of
Paleoindian occupation in one site. More recently, shore erosion associated with increased traffic on the river has exposed burial sites and
middens associated with pre-European settlement in the park. Arrowheads and spear tips associated the
Mississippian, Woodland, and
Copena cultures have been found along the Tennessee River tributaries in the western half of the county. One example of ancient Native American statuary, an tall female figure unearthed prior to 1868 near a mound in the county, is in the collection of the
Smithsonian Institution. On January 7, 1806, with the signing of the
Treaty of Washington, the
Cherokee ceded to the United States a large tract of territory in the south-central portion of Tennessee that included the area that would become Perry County. Permanent settlement by people of European descent along with enslaved people of African descent began shortly after this treaty was ratified. The area was found to have very productive bottomland with an abundance of water, timber, and wild game. The earliest settlers likely arrived from nearby counties in
Middle Tennessee, although some immigrated to the area from North Carolina, Alabama, and Kentucky. Between 1810 and 1812, the first
gristmill in the area was established on Cane Creek. The first known birth of a person of European descent in the area occurred in 1818 along Toms Creek. Some of the early settlers were veterans of the
War of 1812, and some had probably received land grants in the area from the state of
North Carolina for service in the
American Revolution. It is likely the first settlers arrived via the Tennessee River based on the location of the first settlements being located near natural river landings. In 1821, the
county seat was established in
Perryville, a
river port located on the west bank of the Tennessee River and originally known as Midtown. A log courthouse was constructed in Perryville, but was later replaced with a brick structure. Early in its history, Perryville was a relatively important river port and settlement, with some sources noting
David Crockett,
Andrew Jackson,
Sam Houston, and
James K. Polk all having visited the town at some point. In 1825, the county's militia was formalized as the 68th Regiment, 11th Brigade, Tennessee Militia. Later, in 1827, the county militia was split into two regiments by the state legislature, with one regiment drawing from the area east of the Tennessee River, and the other drawing from the west, marking one of the first legal splits of the county along the river. In 1830, the settlement of
Beardstown was established on a high bluff overlooking the
Buffalo River. newspaper of a runaway slave from the iron worksIn February 1833, the issue of
nullification, or the ability of state governments to unilaterally invalidate Federal laws as unconstitutional, was raised in a mass meeting in Perryville. After speakers for and against Federal supremacy were heard, a resolution was passed unanimously supporting the right of the
President to execute the laws passed by Congress, condemning the acts of nullification in South Carolina, and reaffirming the necessity of the maintenance of the Union. On July 10, 1843, the courthouse at Perryville was destroyed in a fire, and through at least late 1844 meetings that would otherwise have been held in the courthouse were held in warehouses along the river. No record exists of a courthouse being re-built in Perryville. By the late 1830s, the difficulties of conducting government business in a county split by a major river that lacked reliable crossings was becoming more apparent. In 1837, a bill was passed in the state legislature creating an entry-taker's office in the eastern portion of the county, duplicating many of the county government's functions. Demands to separate the portion of the county west of the Tennessee River were increasing by 1845, citing the "danger and expense in attending courts...and other business in the county seat [of Perryville]" by people living on the opposite side. That year, bills proposing the creation of a new county formed by the portions of Perry County west of the river appeared in the state legislature. In November 1845 the legislature passed an act to create Decatur County from the land occupied by Perry County west of the Tennessee River. The seat of government and courts were then temporarily relocated from Perryville to a village near the new geographic center of the county known as Harrisburg. In 1854,
Lobelville was established as a trading-post village on the west bank of the Buffalo River about north of Beardstown by a French trader named Henri de Lobel. The total number of people killed by so-called
vigilance committees is unclear, with contemporary reports citing as many as 15 being hanged, and later historical research noting between 10 and 12. In June 1861, however, it voted in favor of
secession by a margin of 780 to 168. Even though the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of secession, the Unionist sentiment was strong and pervasive throughout the war, with men from the county volunteering for both sides in the conflict. About 300 men joined the
Confederate Army, with about 200 joining the
Union Army. Both pro-Union and pro-Confederate irregular and guerrilla forces were organized in Perry County, and were known to have conducted raids on neighboring counties. Of note were the Perry County Jayhawkers, a group of Union-aligned partisans known to have engaged in fighting against opposing partisans in Hickman County and who burned the county seat of
Centerville. Due to the rural, isolated nature of the region, away from the major railway lines and with only limited access to large landings on the Tennessee River, there were no large-scale engagements in the county. On April 27, 1862, a body was found by a group of children playing near Britt's Landing on the Tennessee River in Perry County. Investigation of papers found on the body revealed it to be that of
Governor Louis P. Harvey of Wisconsin. Gov. Harvey had been conducting an inspection of hospitals where wounded soldiers were being treated after the
Battle of Shiloh, and had drowned in the river on April 19 while returning to Wisconsin. In April 1863 the
Mississippi Marine Brigade, a
Union Army amphibious unit consisting of infantry and a number of gunboats, held at Britt's Landing after fighting further upriver before attempting to pass the shoals at the Duck River confluence.
Breckenridge's raid on Linden Before dawn on May 12, 1863, a flotilla under the command of
Lt. Cmdr. Ledyard Phelps composed of the
USS Champion,
USS Covington,
USS Argosy, and the
USS Silver Cloud landed elements of the Union Army's
6th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment on the Tennessee River west of Linden. The small force of 55 men led by Lt. Col. William Breckenridge, possibly a native of either Wayne County or Perry County, approached Linden at daybreak. The Confederate forces, totaling about 100 men under Lt. Col. William Frierson, were preparing to depart Linden to join
General Van Dorn's force at
Spring Hill and were taken completely by surprise. After a short skirmish against pickets, the Union cavalry captured Lt. Col. Frierson and 46 of his officers and men and killed three more before reinforcements could arrive. During this engagement, the county courthouse, which was being held by the Confederate forces, was burned, destroying most records from the early history of the county. The only Union loss during the engagement was one horse. Breckenridge then returned to the Tennessee River and transferred his
prisoners to the awaiting
riverboats for transportation to
Cairo, Missouri. Intelligence gathered from the Confederates captured in the engagement provided significant details to Union leadership on the size, location, and intentions of Confederate forces in the Middle Tennessee, including plans to re-capture
Fort Henry and attack Union forces under
General Rosecrans. Breckenridge later died of disease on October 15, 1863, and was buried at
Shiloh National Cemetery.
Battles at Lobelville and Beardstown On or about September 23, 1864, force of about 400
Confederate cavalry under
Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest crossed the Tennessee River at the Duck River and worked their way south through the Buffalo River valley, taking
conscripts to reinforce their numbers along the way. On September 27 or 29 (sources differ on the date) the force was engaged by elements of the
2nd Tennessee Mounted Infantry, numbering about 250 men, at Lobelville. The Confederate forces retreated to Beardstown following the brief engagement. Federal forces attempted to locate them the following day, but bypassed Beardstown for Cane Creek. The Confederates had their numbers reinforced to 600 men overnight and pursued the Federal forces east towards
Centerville. The Federals were able to stage a retreat through Confederate blocking forces and cross the Duck River, leaving the Confederates to take control of Linden and the lower Buffalo River valley by the 30th.
Reconstruction and the late 19th century Martial law was lifted in the county in April 1865, when the civil court held its first session since
Tennessee's secession and the beginning of the Civil War. In 1868, a new two-story brick courthouse was built to replace the one burned during the war. The lynching was reported in newspapers as far away as Chicago. In the late 19th century, the county was largely known for its tanneries and
peanut cultivation. Peanut farming began in earnest in the late 1860s, replacing cotton as the primary export crop of the county. From about 1880 to 1884, the first regular newspaper in the county, the
Linden Times, was published weekly. In 1887,
Congress authorized the construction of a railroad bridge across the Tennessee River connecting Perry and Decatur counties. The
Tennessee Midland Railroad laid tracks from
Lexington, Tennessee to Perryville. While a
terminus allowing the transfer of goods from rail to river shipping was constructed in Perryville, the bridge was never built and the railroad was never extended into Perry County. A second attempt to bring a railroad to Perry County was started around 1890 with construction beginning on the
Florence Northern Railroad. Plans for the line's extension meant for it to eventually pass through Linden on its way from
Florence, Alabama to
Paducah, Kentucky. In 1894 the railroad was purchased by a
Chattanooga company after about had been graded, but construction was never completed.
Early 20th century Briefly, in the summer of 1903, Perry County was without a county government. That year the state legislature passed an act consolidating the civil districts in the county, and providing for a new special election to be held that would elect new officers. Due to an oversight in the writing of the act, the new county officers could not be seated until 30 days after the election. By 1910, the population of the county peaked at 8,815. It then proceeded to decline to a low of 5,238 individuals in 1970, a number not seen since the census of 1830. In 1927, the county decided to renovate and expand the courthouse. In January 1928, the building burned as it was undergoing restoration. The county government decided to demolish the remains of the old courthouse and construct a new, larger building in the
Colonial Revival style which was completed that same year. Also in 1928, construction started on
the first bridge across the Tennessee River in West and Middle Tennessee, connecting Perry and Decatur counties. The bridge, named after
World War I Medal of Honor recipient
Alvin C. York, was opened on July 5, 1930, by
Governor Henry Horton as part of a major road building program to provide additional links between
Memphis and
Nashville. The crossing would prove to be extremely popular, and was the fourth highest grossing toll bridge in the state in the month after its opening. This bridge was later demolished and replaced by a modern concrete bridge in 1986. The construction of the road bridge and completion of the highway reduced demand for rail service in the area, and service to the rail terminal at Perryville was discontinued in 1936. During the
Second World War, Perry County was located in the
Tennessee Maneuver Area, though it is unclear to what extent exercises occurred within Perry County, if at all. The region was chosen due to its geographic similarity with anticipated combat areas in Western Europe, specifically, the region around the
Rhine in Germany. Maneuvers began in June 1941 and training was suspended in March 1944 as
Operation Overlord approached.
Late 20th century In 1958,
Interstate 40 was completed in Tennessee, crossing the length of the state but passing north of the county. Following this, businesses began to leave the county for locations nearer urban areas and adjacent to the highway; and when two garment factories and an automobile parts plant ceased operations, the conditions were set for long-term economic stagnation. By the mid 1960s, an effort had commenced to protect areas of the county along the Tennessee River for conservation and recreation. In January 1967, the site at Mousetail Landing, then owned by the
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), was reported as under study for a future park. In 1968, a bill was vetoed by
Governor Buford Ellington that would have provided funding to acquire land to establish a state park at the landing. By 1973, the park had seen further planning as part of a chain of four water-oriented parks along the Tennessee River, including
Pickwick Landing State Park,
Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park, and
Paris Landing State Park. In 1977, Perry County leaders unanimously approved a resolution in support of the development of the park. That year, the TVA offered to give of land to the state, and a matching Federal grant of $1.1 million had been made available for the park's development. By 1979, the state had finalized plans to build the park and officially asked the TVA to turn over of riverfront land between Spring Creek and Lick Creek for the park. TVA approved the land transfer, with construction planned to begin late that year. The park officially opened to the public in 1986. In 1971, an
Old Order Mennonite community was established along Cane Creek near Lobelville. Both
English as well as
Plattdeutsch and
Pennsylvania German speaking families settled in the area from other areas of Tennessee, from nearby states such as
Arkansas, and internationally from
Belize. This community generally avoids motor vehicles, except in certain limited situations sanctioned by their church, and most families are not connected to the
electrical grid. Nineteen farms in Perry County have been accepted into the
Tennessee Century Farms Program. The program, established in 1975 by the
Tennessee Department of Agriculture and now managed by the Center for Historic Preservation at
Middle Tennessee State University, recognizes active farms that have been operated continuously by the same family for over 100 years. Included in the program are the Craig Farm and the Tucker Farm, established in 1818 and the oldest farm in the county. ==Geography and geology==