Meigs County is named for Return John Meigs, who was an officer in the Continental Army and who was a federal Indian military agent in Tennessee.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Roane County
E – McMinn County
S – Bradley County and Hamilton County
W – Rhea County
Created: January 20, 1836 
County Seat:
Decatur 1836 – present
County Courthouse – Decatur
Location: 17214 Highway 56 / Abel Avenue
Built: 1903 – 1904
Style: Classical Revival
Architect: W R Harper
Contractor: Broadway Manufacturing Company of Knoxville
Description: The building faces east and is a two story brown colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Decatur. The building has a brick foundation. The east front has a large square brick tower rising at the entrance with clock at the top. The front has a small one story portico with arch. Black composition shingles cover the low hip roof; two gables and a plain boxed cornice, with an equally unadorned frieze, ornament the roof structure. In the interior, the first story contains an east-west hall with offices arranged on either side; the hall walls are solid brick. The east end of the hall opens and contains two half-turn staircases with landings which merge to form a straight stair as it approaches the second story. The staircase has turned balusters and ornate newels and drops, and the stairwell has wide board ceilings and vertical, beaded-board wainscoting. The courtroom is located on the second story. The building houses the County Circuit Court, County Chancery Court, County Criminal Court, County General Sessions Court and County Juvenile Court of the 9th Judicial District. An addition was built on the west side in 2003. The architect was Weeks, Ambrose, McDonald Inc. of Knoxville and the contractor was Hudak & Dawson Construction Company, Inc. of Gadsden, Alabama.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Meigs County Courthouse
See: The 9th Judicial District includes Loudon County, Morgan County and Roane County.
History: The county was created in 1836 and Decatur was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was constructed by William Kerr in 1837 for a sum of $2400. The second courthouse was constructed in 1882 but was destroyed by fire on April 2, 1902. The third and present courthouse was constructed in 1903 to 1904 at a cost of $7,645. The building was damaged by fire on January 18, 1964.
County Courthouse – Decatur
Photos taken 2012 and 2018