Washington (old) County, North Carolina Genealogy

See Washington County, Tennessee for further information about Washington (old) County, North Carolina.

In 1776 settlers in what would eventually become Tennessee successfully petitioned North Carolina to recognize the Washington District. The District included all of modern Tennessee except two small settlements (North-of-Holston, Fincastle County, and Pendleton, Washington County) in the far northeast that were considered part of Virginia at the time. Washington (old) County was created from Washington District by North Carolina in 1777 as the western county of North Carolina.

In 1789 North Carolina was admitted to the Union and ceded her western counties to the United States. The United States made these western counties into the Southwest Territory. In 1792 North Carolina divided Washington (old) County and annexed some of its land that would later become Alleghany, Ashe, and Watauga counties in North Carolina to Wilkes County, North Carolina. In 1796 the remainder of Washington County became part of the new State of Tennessee.