Rogersville is one of the oldest towns in the state of Tennessee. If you are lookig for a small town loaded with a rich history this is the place to come. Settled in the early 1780's by an Irishman named Joseph Rogers. He met and fell in love with a local girl named Mary Amis. She was the daughter of a wealthy landowner and Revolutionary War hero in Hawkins County.

Davy Crockett's grandparents had a cabin alongside Crockett Creek running through the town. They were massacred by Indians in 1777 and buried in what is now the Rogers Cemetery in Crockett Springs Park, along with Joseph Rogers. A Heritage Trail is being bult now which passes these and other important historic sites. The Hale Springs Inn at 110 West Main Street was built in 1824 by John A. McKinney, an early settler, lawyer, and judge - it is under the process of being reopened under the auspices of the Rogersville Heritage Association. He was also responsible for building the Clay-Kenner House, c. 1835, 403 East Main Street, as a wedding gift to his daughter, Susan.

Schools have been an integral part of the Town's history. McMinn Academy was an exceptional military school built in 1806. The Rogersville Synodical College, built in 1849, was a private Presbyterian finishing school for women and is now the site of the Rogersville City Elementary School. Swift College, 200 North Depot Street, a world-renowned Presbyterian college for blacks operated from 1883 to 1955 and as a high school until Hawkins County integrated in 1963. Some of the Hawkins County Board of Education offices are housed in the remaining college buildings.

The Town Square is the center of downtown Rogersville. On each corner of the square is a historic site. The Hawkins County Courthouse is the oldest original courthouse still in use in the state. It was designed by John Dameron and built in 1836.

The Hale Springs Inn and Kyle House are on the other corners of the square. The Kyle House was built in 1837 as a twenty-two room mansion for William Simpson. During the Civil War, Confederate officers and soldiers were housed here. Just across Main Street, Union officers and soldiers were housed in the Hale Springs Inn.

Rogersville is a small town nestled in the mountains of Northeast Tennessee between Knoxville and Bristol, only a short drive to Gatlinburg, the Great Smoky Mountains, and other family vacation sites. Cherokee Lake, known for its fishing and camping, is close by between Rogersville and Morristown.