Obion County is one of 95 in Tennessee created in 1823 and included was is now Lake County until 1870. It is bounded on the north by Fulton County Kentucky, on the west by Lake County Tennessee, on the east by Weakley County Tennessee and on the south by both Dyer and Gibson Counties Tennessee. It is generally considered to be named after the Obion River; Obion thought to be an Indian word meaning “many forks”.
Troy was the first county seat and the first incorporated town (March 1, 1843) in the county. Davy Crockett was there when Troy was laid out as county seat. Crockett would go on to represent Obion County in the U. S. House of Representatives. Crockett’s fame as a bear killer (his record was 103) was made in Obion County.
Union City is now the county seat. Laid out in 1854 on land owned by General George Gibbs, Union City came by its name because it was where the Nashville and Northwest Railroad and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad met.
(This posting created from the online Tennessee Encyclopedia and the Jackson Purchase Historical Society Sesquicentennial Publication, 1969)
