Anderson County was created on November 6, 1801, from portions of Grainger and Knox counties and was named in honor of Senator Joseph Anderson, a former judge who oversaw the Southwestern Territory prior to the county's founding. Four courthouses have stood on or near this location: a log structure built in 1803, a stone courthouse and jail built in 1820, a brick courthouse and clocktower built in 1890, and the current courthouse, which once housed the county jail, completed in 1967. The Slover Chimes atop the courthouse were given in 1937 by Col. Samuel Slover in memory of his father, Henry Clay Slover.