Elizabethton/Carter County Tourism Development Council

Young explorers Daniel Boone and James Robertson "discovered" what is now Elizabethton in 1769, and called it "Old Fields" for the existing Native American agriculture they found along the Watauga River. The word Watauga means "the land beyond" in Cherokee, though some translate it to "beautiful water." By the late 1760s, Elizabethton was known as the Watauga Settlement at Sycamore Shoals; the first permanent settlement outside the original 13 English colonies and the first majorityrule system of American democracy. Sycamore Shoals was also the site of the largest private or corporate land deal in American history. With the purchase of 20 million acres from the Cherokee, the Transylvania Purchase marked the beginning of the westward expansion and gave all the lands of the Cumberland Watershed extending to the Kentucky River to the settlers. Today's visitors will find a quaint downtown and so much history to explore, as well as easy access to outdoor adventure on the river.