One of the earliest settlers at Fall Branch was Isaac White. He was a Revolutionary War veteran who arrived in the area in 1781. He eventually established a farm at what is now the intersection of Interstate 81 and State Highway 93. Another early settler, Gabriel Morgan, built a grist mill at Fall Branch in the early 1800s. The mill stood until the 1930s, when it was torn down.[1]
By the early 1800s, Fall Branch was known as "Crouch Town", after a family of early settlers. The name had changed to "James' Cross Roads" by 1830, when a post office was established. The name "Falls Branch" had been adopted by 1854, and the "s" was dropped from "Falls" in 1883, giving the community its current name. The name was inspired by the waterfall the community's main creek, also called Fall Branch, spills over just before it empties into Horse Creek.[1]
In 1836, Fall Branch was designated as the county seat of the proposed "Powell County", which would have consisted of parts of Washington, Greene, Sullivan, and Hawkins counties. While voters approved of the new county, it was rejected by the Tennessee Supreme Court on the grounds that it failed to meet the minimum size required by the state constitution for new counties.[6][7][8][9]
Schools
A school, Fall Branch Seminary, was established at Fall Branch in 1842. Fall Branch High School, initially a two-year school, was established before 1900. The high school was consolidated with several other smaller schools to form Daniel Boone High School in nearby Gray in 1971.[1]
Buildings
A number of buildings dating to the 19th century still stand in Fall Branch. The Masonic Lodge, home to Johnson Lodge No. 274, was completed in 1869. The Joseph Sheppard House, constructed in the late 1850s, was believed to have been used to hide Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. The Bud White Home was constructed by a local physician, Jonathan Blair White, in 1869. The Hopper House, used as a boarding home for early Fall Branch Seminary students, was constructed in the first half of the 19th century.[1]
Education
One school is located in Fall Branch; Fall Branch School, which serves grades PreK–8 in the Washington County portion of the community. West Pines Elementary School (grades PreK–8) previously served the Greene County portion until its closure in 2019. Grades PreK-5 now attend Baileyton Elementary in Baileyton and grades 6-8 now attend North Greene Middle School in Ottway. High school students attend North Greene High School (Greene County portion) and Daniel Boone High School (Washington County portion).
↑Andrew Johnson, LeRoy P. Graf (ed.), Ralph Haskins (ed.), "Letter to John Young, March 10, 1840," Letters of Andrew Johnson, Vol. 1 (University of Tennessee Press, 1967), p. 26.
