Fentress Unveils First County Seal Since Founding

Fentress County officials, Tennessee Tech students and locals all gathered for the unveiling of the county seal.

Fentress County was founded in 1823 and has never had an official seal. County Executive Jimmy Johnson said from Polk Hollow to the Wolf River Valley, the new seal captures the county.

“It will help promote us, it will answer the question do they have up there? Well, you can look at it and you’ll see,” Johnson said. “You have a lot of valleys, you have the hills, you have the hollows and it just shows you have the agriculture. So it’s kindly a piece that just really represents Fentress County well.”

Tennessee Tech assisted Fentress County in the seal’s creation, at no charge. Johnson said the county and Tech bounced three or four designs off of each other before selecting a final design.

“We got acquainted with them through our chamber and we got to talking about what we could do,” Johnson said. “Maybe a seal and that’s when they came on board and said, ‘we can help you do this.”

Tennessee Tech Director of Research and Economic Development Michael Aikens said the pride these partnerships create cannot be understated.

“This is our home and for us to be able to work together collaboratively with higher education, with government to affect literally, the lives of the citizens up here,” Aikens said. “It’s something that truly is a synergy, that I don’t know that there’s anything like this, anywhere else in the nation.”

Fentress County Commissioners approved the final design in February. Johnson said the seal will be on county vehicles, letterheads and stationary.