Clinton Public Library is glad to be able to offer a variety of resources to assist with our patron’s needs and interests, ranging from historical and genealogical research to education development to employment resources. Please take time to browse through some of our resources below, or ask us for help with specific subjects and topics.
Tennessee History Collection
The Clinton Public Library has an extensive collection of Tennessee historical and genealogical material. In addition to the print collection, we also have a microfilm collection consisting of Anderson County Records (probate, register of deeds, Chancery Court, Circuit Court, and County Court records), Census Records, Land Grant Index, Tax Lists, and Vital Statistics. Local newspapers including the Clinton Gazette, Anderson County News, Clinton Courier News, and Clinton Appalachian Observer are also available on microfilm.
Volunteer Genealogist
The library has access to a volunteer genealogy researcher. You can contact her directly at samhil2@aol.com. Please include “Volunteer Researcher” in the email’s subject line.
TN State Library Resources
The TN State Library & Archives Vital Records provides an incredibly vast collection includes birth and death records, marriage records, census records, county records, military records, African American and Native American records, state records, newspapers, place names and maps, Governor’s papers, manuscripts, TN acts, TN postcards,and additional resources.
HeritageQuest by Ancestry
HeritageQuest is a resource for genealogy and family history research. Includes digitized copies of federal census records, full-text family and local history books, Freedman’s Bank records and more!
East Tennessee Historical Society
For more than 175 years, East Tennessee Historical Society has helped East Tennesseans hold on to their unique heritage by recording events and stories and collecting artifacts for its world-class museum collection.
Anderson County Historical Society
Headquartered in Clinton, Anderson County, Tennessee, the primary interest of the Anderson County Historical Society is the preservation of the history and genealogies of Clinton and Anderson County and the surrounding counties in East Tennessee.
TNGen Web: Anderson County
The Anderson County TNGenWeb site is affiliated with the TNGenWeb Project, which is an affiliate of the USGenWeb Project. It is maintained by the Pellissippi Genealogical & Historical Society.
Online Searches
OnlineSearches.com is your gateway to public records. Use our free Public Records Directory to quickly find the public record sources you need. We provide thousands of links to free public record searches in every state and county in the United States.
History of Anderson County
Formed in 1801 from Knox and Grainger Counties, Anderson County was named for Joseph Anderson, a US Senator from Tennessee. Anderson County includes the cities of Clinton and Oak Ridge and the towns of Briceville, Rocky Top, Norris and Oliver Springs.
The county seat of Clinton was also established in 1801 and originally called Burrville in honor of Aaron Burr. In 1809, following Burr‘s disgrace after the death of Alexander Hamilton as a result of their duel, the city was renamed by the Tennessee State legislature as Clinton, in honor of George Clinton, Vice-President under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. In 1956 Clinton High School was the site of the first desegregation of a state-supported public high school in the southeast. The Green McAdoo Cultural Center was established in Clinton to commemorate the event. Clinton is home to the nationally-recognized Southern Gospel group The McKameys.
The largest city in the county is Oak Ridge, established by the federal government during the Manhattan Project of World War II. Beginning in October 1942, the federal government began taking land from local landowners and by March 1943 all of the unincorporated communities in the area had been “removed” and the city fenced in and manned with armed checkpoints. Because of its history, Oak Ridge is referred to as the “Secret City”. Oak Ridge remains a center for scientific research by Department of Defense and Department of Energy subcontractors.
The Town of Rocky Top was originally named Coal Creek, but was renamed in 1936 to Lake City in honor of Norris Lake. It’s current name, Rocky Top, was officially established in 2014. In 1891 the town was occupied by the Tennessee State militia during the Coal Creek War, a struggle between coal miners and mine owners over the use of unpaid convict labor in the mines. The explosion of the Fraterville Mine on May 19, 1902, occurred near Lake City and resulted in the death of 216 miners. Eighty-nine miners who died in the Fraterville Mine disaster are buried at Circle Cemetery in the Briceville community, scene of the Cross Mountain Mine disaster which killed 84 miners on December 9, 1911. Twenty-two of the miners killed at Cross Mountain are also buried in Circle Cemetery, which is officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1984 the movie Burning Rage, starring Tom Wopat and Barbara Mandrell, was filmed in Lake City and it is also the hometown of country singer/songwriter Dean Dillon.
The Town of Norris was built by the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933 to house workers building Norris Dam. Built to harness the power of the Clinch River, the dam was completed in 1936 and created Norris Lake. The Town of Norris is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Town of Oliver Springs was founded in 1830 and known as Winters’ Gap, named for the first permanent white settler, Major Moses Winters. It was renamed briefly as Poplar Springs and then as Oliver Springs after the first postmaster, Richard Oliver, who also owned the first hotel built to capitalize on the area’s mineral springs, used for centuries by Native Americans. In 1999 the movie October Sky, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Laura Dern, was filmed in Oliver Springs.
The Tennessee Electronic Library is a database of free resources to all library card holders in the state of Tennessee! It contains access to tools for all ages, including homework help, test prep, career tools, genealogy, language learning tools, and over 400,000 electronic resources including magazines, scholarly journals, podcasts, videos, e-books, test preparation materials, federal census records, Tennessee primary source materials, and more.
Some resources may require a free account to access, or may require you to enter your library card number or a password for your association.
NewsBank is a global news database resource that has been a premier provider of the world’s largest repository of reliable information for more than 50 years. Log in with your library card number to access current and archived information from thousands of newspaper titles, as well as newswires, web editions, blogs, videos, broadcast transcripts, business journals, periodicals, government documents and other publications.
TEL Job and Career Resources
The Tennessee Electronic Library provides access to a variety of helpful career resources including resume and cover letter creation, the interview process, skill and certification assistance, and information on starting your own business.
Gale Career Transitions
Gale offers resources for job and internship searches, job search advice, resume and cover letter help, career paths, interview simulations, and much more.
TN Virtual American Job Center
The TN Virtual American Job Center provide free services that help you find steady, good-paying jobs all over Tennessee. You can get training, job counseling, financial aid for education, and much more.
Jobs4TN
Jobs4TN is Tennessee’s official state website for the Department of Labor & Workforce Development, offering assistance for both employees and employers on searching for employment positions and certifications, skill improvement, unemployment benefits, and more.