Tennessee celebrates 230 years

Tennessee flag \ MGN

We might not be as old as the United States, but Tennessee is also celebrating a big birthday today.

On this day in 1796, Tennessee became the 16th state in the union.

That makes us 230 years old today.

Before that, we were part of the state of North Carolina and then a federal territory.

There was even an attempt to create the State of Franklin a few years before, but that failed.

But when George Washington signed the paperwork, we had Kentucky to our north and North Carolina on the other side of the mountain.

The original state capital was in Knoxville.

At this point, Chattanooga was still considered Cherokee territory.

Our city was not founded until forty years later.