The oldest town in Tennessee, Jonesborough was founded in 1779 as the seat of Washington County, an area of North Carolina that encompassed all of present-day Tennessee. In 1784 North Carolina ceded its lands west of the mountains to the United States, and the settlers in Washington County were left without a government. A convention met in Jonesborough in 1785 and created the State of Franklin, with John Sevier as its first and only governor. Learn More...