This article is atimeline ofPerry County, Tennessee history.

• January 7 1806 –Cherokee cede the land that would later become Perry County to the United States in theTreaty of Washington.^[1]

• c.1810-1812 – The firstgristmill in the area is established on Cane Creek.^[2]: 58
• 1818 – The first known person of European descent in the area that would become Perry County is born.^[3]
• 1819 – Perry County is established by theTennessee General Assembly.^[3]

• 1820 – The first court in the county is held in a house on Toms Creek.^[3]
• 1821 – The county seat is established inPerryville.^[4]
• 1825 – A county militia is formed as the 68th Regiment, 11th Brigade, Tennessee Militia.^[5]

• 1830 – The village of Beardstown is established.^[3]
• 1832-1834 – TheCedar Grove Iron Furnace is constructed.^[3]

• July 10 1843 – The courthouse at Perryville burns.^[6]
• November 1845 –Decatur County is formed from the portion of Perry County west of theTennessee River, the county seat is moved to a village near the new geographic center of the county.^[7]
• 1848 – The town of Linden is established as the county seat.^[3]

• 1850 – Harper's Statistical Gazetteer reports 10 grist mills, a saw mill, a furnace, two tanneries, 21 churches, and 23 schools enrolling 685 students in the county.^[8]
• 1854 – Lobelville is established.^[7]
• Spring 1856 – Between 10 and 15 enslaved Black people are murdered byvigilantes following allegations of the plotting of a slave revolt.^[9]

• June 1861 – Perry County votes in favor ofsecession.^[10]
• February 1862 February – Cedar Grove Iron Furnace is destroyed by naval gunfire from a flotilla of Union gunboats.^[11]
• April 27 1862 – The body ofGovernor Louis P. Harvey ofWisconsin is found on the banks of the Tennessee River.^[12]
• May 12 1863 –Union cavalry forcesland on the east bank of the Tennessee River and conduct a raid on Linden, burning the courthouse and capturingConfederate personnel and equipment.^[13]
• September 27–30 1864 – Confederate andUnion forces skirmish near Lobelville and Beardstown.^[14]
• April 1865 – Martial law is lifted and civil courts resume following theCivil War.^[3]
• 1868 – A new courthouse is constructed in Linden to replace the one destroyed during the war.^[3]
• 1869 – Two Black men are removed from the local jail by a mob and lynched.^[15]

• 1871 – The Craig Farm is established on Lick Creek.^[16]

• 1880-1884 – The first regular newspaper is published in the county.^{[2]: 40–42}

• 1890 – The first known bank in the county, Linden Bank and Trust, is established.^{[2]: 109–110}
• 1897 –Thetus W. Sims, a Linden lawyer, is elected to theUnited States House of Representatives.^[17]

• 1900 –Bell Telephone Company establishes the first telephone service in the county.^[18]
• Summer 1907 – Due to a legislative error, Perry County is briefly left without a county government.^[19]
• 1907 – Linden-born professional baseball playerClyde Milan plays his first season with theWashington Senators.^[20]

• 1910 – The population of the county peaks at 8,815.^[21]
• May 27 1917 – A tornado strikes the county, killing five and injuring 67.^[22]

• January 1928 – The courthouse burns while undergoing renovations. A new, larger building is built on the same site that year.^[23]

• July 5 1930 –Governor Henry Horton opens the first bridge across the Tennessee River in the county. The bridge, named afterAlvin C. York, connects theNashville-Memphis Highway between Linden and Perryville.^[24]
• September 1 1930 – Linden substantially damaged by fire.^[25]

• 1941-1944 – Perry County is included in the area covered by theTennessee Maneuver Area duringWorld War 2, though the extent of training activity in the county is unclear.^[26]
• 1944 –Kentucky Dam is completed, impoundingKentucky Lake and inundating small portions of county along the Tennessee River.^[27]
• 1949 – TheTennessee Game and Fish Commission begins awhitetail deer reintroduction program in the county.^[28]

• 1955 – Linden High School begins a three-year winning streak at the state high school boys' basketball championships.
• 1957 – The movieNatchez Trace is filmed in the county.^[29]
• 1958 –Interstate 40 opens, bypassing the county. Larger businesses begin to leave, setting the stage for long term economic stagnation.^[30]

• 1962 –Perry County Airport opens near Linden.^[31]
• January 1967 – Site studies begin for a new State Park on the banks of the Tennessee River in the county.^[32]

• 1971 – AnOld Order Mennonite community is established near Lobelville.^[33]
• 1979 – Construction begins onMousetail Landing State Park.^[34]

• 1986 – TheAlvin C. York Bridge across the Tennessee River is demolished and replaced by a modern structure.^[35]

• 1992 – The county is featured in an episode ofUnsolved Mysteries examining the case of a man who went missing in the area in 1985.^[36]

• 2009 – Unemployment figures reach 29%, the second-highest unemployment rate of any county in the United States.^[37]

• 2011 – Unemployment lowers to 14% following a subsidized employment program.^[38]

• April 2020 – Unemployment peaks again at 24% during theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[39]
• November 2020 – The county's sole hospital closes.^[40]

• United States history timelines
• History of Tennessee by county
• Tennessee history-related lists

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata