Because of courthouse fires and other disasters, some Tennessee records filed at the county level are lost forever. Records filed at the county level include marriages; wills and other probate records; records of county, circuit and chancery courts; deeds; and tax records. You can consult Earliest County Records at the Tennessee State Library and Archives to see the effect of a courthouse fire or fires on the records of the county in which you are interested.
The following list shows when courthouse fires and other disasters occurred in Tennessee.
| COUNTY |
YEAR |
DISASTER |
| Bedford |
1830
1863 & 1934 |
tornado
fires |
| Bledsoe |
1908 |
fire |
| Blount |
1879 & 1906 |
fires |
| Campbell |
1883 & 1926 |
fires |
| Cannon |
1934 |
fire |
| Carroll |
1931 |
fire |
| Carter |
1933 |
fire |
| Chester |
1910 |
fire |
| Claiborne |
1863 & 1931 |
fires |
| Cocke |
1876 |
fire |
| Coffee |
1870 |
fire |
| Cumberland |
1905 |
fire |
| Davidson |
1856 |
fire |
| Decatur |
1869 & 1927 |
fires |
| Dickson |
1830 |
tornado |
| Dyer |
1864 |
fire |
| Fayette |
1925 |
fire |
| Fentress |
1905 |
fire |
| Gibson??? |
1941 |
fire |
| Giles |
1813, 1857 & 1907 |
fires |
| Grainger |
1946 |
fire |
| Grundy |
1853 & 1990 |
fires |
| COUNTY |
YEAR |
DISASTER |
| Hamilton |
1910 |
fire |
| Hancock |
1885 & 1930 |
fires |
| Hardeman |
1864 |
fire |
| Hardin |
1859, 1864 & 1949 |
fire |
| Hawkins |
1863 |
fire |
| Henderson |
1896 |
fire |
| Hickman |
1864 |
fire |
| Humphreys |
1876 & 1898 |
fires |
| Jackson |
1872 & 1926 |
fires |
| Lauderdale |
1869 |
fire |
| McMinn |
1964 |
fire |
| McNairy |
1881 |
fire |
| Macon |
1860 & 1901 & 1932 |
fires |
| Marion |
1922 |
fire |
| Marshall |
1872 & 1927 |
fires |
| Meigs |
1904 & 1964 |
fire |
| Monroe |
1820s
1860 |
fire
razed / Civil War |
| Montgomery |
1878 & 1900
1999 |
fires
tornado |
| Morgan |
1826 & 1870 & 1904 |
fires |
| Obion |
1842 |
earthquake |
| Overton |
1865 |
fire |
| Perry |
1863 & 1928 |
fires |
| Pickett |
1934 |
fire |
| Polk |
1895 & 1935??? |
fires |
| Putnam |
1860s
1898 |
burned / Civil War
fires |
| Rhea |
1869 & 1927 |
fires |
| Rutherford |
1832 |
tornado |
| Scott |
1946 |
fire |
| Sevier |
1856 |
fire |
| Stewart |
1862 |
fire (Federal troops) |
| Sullivan |
1863 |
fire (Civil War -
Battle of Blountville) |
| Trousdale |
1900 & 1904 |
fires |
| Union |
1870s & 1969 |
fires |
| Warren |
1852? |
fire? |
| Washington |
1839 |
fire |
| Wayne |
1973 |
fire |
| Weakley |
1948 |
fire |
| Wilson |
1881 |
fire |
Updated March 20, 2008
