Washington County commissioners are being asked to lend their voices to calls for the state to return a vital historic document to Jonesborough, as well as approve a key payment-in-lieu agreement with an existing county manufacturer at their meeting today.
Commissioners, who will meet electronically at 6 p.m., are also expected to vote on a resolution expressing Washington Countyâs support of an ongoing state lawsuit against three named manufacturers of prescription opioid drugs.
The resolution also names the county as an official plaintiff in the lawsuit and specifies that 1st Judicial District Attorney General Ken Baldwin will continue as the countyâs lawyer in the case.
The Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition of 1897 was a huge event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the stateâs entry into the union and featuring more than 100 buildings spread over 200 acres in Nashville, including an exact replica of the Greek Parthenon which still stands.
Counties contributed in various ways to the event and Washington County, the stateâs first, appropriately lent history to display on this historic occasion. Its documents included the first minutes of the Washington County Court in the handwriting of John Sevier, its first clerk, and, Deed Book A, an 1830s copy of the countyâs original deed book created between 1717 and 1782.
The Kingsport Times-News and The Johnson City Press on a historical document returning to the state:
The Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition of 1897 was a huge event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the state’s entry into the union and featuring more than 100 buildings spread over 200 acres in Nashville, including an exact replica of the Greek Parthenon which still stands.
Counties contributed in various ways to the event, and Washington County - the state’s first - appropriately lent history to display on this historic occasion. Its documents included the first minutes of the Washington County Court in the handwriting of John Sevier, its first clerk, and Deed Book A, an 1830s copy of the county’s original deed book created between 1717 and 1782.
Washington County commissioners are being asked to back efforts to return an important piece of the countyâs history to Jonesborough.
Ned Irwin, Washington Countyâs archivist, said the county is working to retrieve its very first property deed book, âDeed Book A,â which was sent to Nashville in 1897 as part of its contribution to the Tennessee Centennial Celebration.
The deed book was eventually moved to the Tennessee State Library and Archives, where it remains today.
The historical document is a 1830s copy of Washington Countyâs original deed book, which was created between 1717 and 1782.
âIt is a Washington County record, and should be returned to Washington County,â Irwin told members of the countyâs Health, Education and Welfare Committee on Thursday.