HENDERSON COUNTY

Lexington High School -- Henderson County's only high school in 1920
PHOTO: Brenda Kirk Fiddler
County Seat: Lexington
In the "old" days, Tennessee had lots of one-room schoolhouses for young students and relatively few high schools. Henderson County was perhaps the most extreme in this regard. According to the esteemed 1920 reference book Counties of Tennessee (by Austin Foster), Henderson County had at that time ONE high school and EIGHTY-FIVE elementary schools!
Look how big Henderson County was in 1821
Tennessee State Library & Archives

Here's another story: Henderson County used to be home of Miles Darden, who was born in North Carolina in 1798 and died here in 1857. Miles was world famous, not for something he did but for what he was. He was a giant – at least seven feet six inches tall and, at the time of his death, weighed more than a thousand pounds (according to the cotton scales on which he was weighed).


Look how much smaller it is today!
Tennessee Department of Transportation

According to the book Every Day in Tennessee History by James Jones, “a typical Miles Darden breakfast consisted of a dozen eggs, two quarts of coffee, a gallon of water, and 30 buttered biscuits.” Miles started as a farmer, and later ran a tavern and inn. " Darden's business prospered since he was an intelligent man with good business sense, who not only provided excellent food but good service too," according to Henderson County by G. Tilman Stewart. For most of his life Miles was active and energetic, but after 1853 he had to be carried around in a wagon.



Here's a photo of the Henderson County Courthouse.

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