Scott County is a county in Tennessee, United States, on the Cumberland Plateau in the northeastern part of the state, bordering Kentucky. It had a population of 22,039 at the 2020 census and covers 533 square miles (1,380 km2) centred near 36°26′N 84°31′W.
Huntsville is the county seat, and its postal code is 37756. Scott County has 3 incorporated towns, 3 census-designated places, and several unincorporated communities. The county sits in the Eastern Time Zone. Tennessee has no civil townships, so the county has no township government layer.
Towns & Villages in Scott County
Scott County has three incorporated towns — Huntsville, Oneida, and Winfield — plus census-designated places (CDPs) with no municipal government of their own, and a larger number of unincorporated crossroads communities. The table below carries over every settlement documented for the county, noting incorporation status where known.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville | Town · seat | — | 37756 |
| Oneida | Town | — | 37841 |
| Winfield | Town | — | 37892 |
| Elgin | CDP | — | 37732 |
| Helenwood | CDP | — | 37755 |
| Robbins | CDP | — | 37852 |
| Isham | Unincorp. | — | — |
| New River | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rugby | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Black Creek | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Black Oak | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Clay Hill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Coal Hill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Cordell | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Dean | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Foster Crossroads | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Glenmary | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hembree | Unincorp. | — | — |
| High Point | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hughett | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Jeffers | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Ketchen | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lone Mountain | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Montgomery | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mountain View | Unincorp. | — | — |
| New Haven | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Newtown | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Norma | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Pine Hill | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Piney Grove | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Pleasant Grove | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Roberta | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Slick Rock | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Smoky Junction | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Speck | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Stanley Junction | Unincorp. | — | — |
| State Line | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Straight Fork | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Three Forks | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Toomy | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Verdun | Unincorp. | — | — |
| West Oneida | Unincorp. | — | — |
| West Robbins | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Winona | Unincorp. | — | — |
Robbins and West Robbins sit on opposite sides of the same crossroads on State Route 63, as do Oneida and West Oneida along U.S. Route 27 — each pair is a genuinely separate named place, not a duplicate entry.
ZIP Codes
- 37756 — Huntsville (county seat)
- 37841 — Oneida
- 37892 — Winfield
- 37755 — Helenwood
- 37852 — Robbins
- 37732 — Elgin
Most of the county’s smaller unincorporated communities share the postal ZIP code of their nearest post-office town rather than carrying one of their own.
Geography
Scott County lies on the Cumberland Plateau in the ridge-and-valley country of East Tennessee, drained by the New River and the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area covers a large share of the county’s southern and western terrain, a landscape of sandstone gorges and forested ridges. The county has 532 square miles of land and 0.9 square miles of water.
Scott County borders Campbell County to the east, Anderson County to the southeast, Morgan County to the south, Fentress County to the west, and McCreary County, Kentucky, to the north across the state line.
Demographics
Scott County had 22,039 residents at the 2020 census, down from 22,228 in 2010. Oneida is the largest town and Huntsville, the county seat, is the second-largest incorporated place. The county’s median household income runs well below the Tennessee median of $67,631, reflecting the Cumberland Plateau’s historically coal-dependent economy. Population density is about 41 people per square mile, among the more sparsely settled counties in East Tennessee.
Economy & Local Life
Coal mining and timber shaped Scott County’s economy for more than a century, and both remain present alongside newer manufacturing and healthcare employers based in Oneida and Huntsville. Scott County has long marketed itself around outdoor recreation tied to the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, drawing hikers, horseback riders, and whitewater paddlers to the New River and Big South Fork gorges. Scott High School and Oneida High School anchor community life in their respective towns.
History
Scott County was organized in 1849 from parts of Fentress, Campbell, Morgan, and Anderson counties, and is named for Winfield Scott, the U.S. Army general. It is best remembered for its Civil War stand: county residents voted overwhelmingly against Tennessee’s 1861 secession from the Union, and when the state joined the Confederacy anyway, the county government formally proclaimed its own independence from the Confederacy — a defiant self-declared status nicknamed “Free and Independent Scott” — which the Tennessee legislature did not formally rescind until 1986. Coal mining drove growth through the late 19th and 20th centuries before the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, established in 1974, redirected the county’s economy toward tourism.
Getting There
U.S. Route 27 runs north–south through the county, connecting Oneida and Huntsville, and Tennessee State Route 63 crosses it east–west.
- Knoxville, Tennessee — 55 miles southeast
- Jamestown, Tennessee — 25 miles west
- Jacksboro, Tennessee — 30 miles east
- Williamsburg, Kentucky — 30 miles north
The nearest commercial airport is McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Scott County, Tennessee?
It is in the northeastern part of Tennessee, on the Cumberland Plateau along the Kentucky border.
What is the population of Scott County?
Scott County had a population of 22,039 at the 2020 census.
How big is Scott County?
Scott County covers 533 square miles (1,380 km2), of which 532 square miles is land.
What is the county seat of Scott County?
Huntsville is the county seat.
How many towns are in Scott County?
Scott County has three incorporated towns — Huntsville, Oneida, and Winfield — plus several census-designated places and unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Scott County?
Scott County’s ZIP codes include 37756 (Huntsville), 37841 (Oneida), 37892 (Winfield), 37755 (Helenwood), 37852 (Robbins), and 37732 (Elgin).
Why is Scott County nicknamed “Free and Independent Scott”?
County residents voted against Tennessee’s secession from the Union in 1861 and declared the county independent of the Confederate state government; the Tennessee legislature did not formally rescind that declaration until 1986.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Tennessee.