CITY OF CALHOUN
The Calhoun area was settled by John Walker (c. 1770-1834), a part-Cherokee grandson of Nancy Ward and a prominent figure in the formation of McMinn County. Walker operated a ferry along the Hiwassee River and helped contract the Cherokee Turnpike Company in 1806, which maintained the road between Knoxville and Georgia. In 1819, Walker helped negotiate the Calhoun Treaty, in which the Cherokee ceded the remaining lands between the Little Tennessee River and the Hiwassee River, including what is now McMinn County. McMinn County was organized at Walker’s house that same year. In 1820, Walker laid out the town of Calhoun, which he named for the Calhoun Treaty’s chief U.S. negotiator, John C. Calhoun. Calhoun remained the county seat until 1823. The town was incorporated in 1960. Main Street of Calhoun has recently been designated by the National Historic Trails Service as an “Original Route” of the Trails of Tears.