Cleveland (Tennessee)

Cleveland is a city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,285 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat and largest city in Bradley County, and the principal city of the Cleveland, Tennessee metropolitan area (consisting of Bradley County and neighboring Polk County), which is included in the Chattanooga-Cleveland-Dalton combined statistical area. Cleveland is the fourteenth largest city in Tennessee and the fifth-largest industrially with twelve Fortune 500 manufacturers.HistoryIn 1819, the Cherokee Agency— the official liaison between the U.S. government and the Cherokee Nation— was moved to the Hiwassee area, a few miles north of what is now Cleveland. The Indian agent was Colonel Return J. Meigs. Charleston and Blythe's Ferry (about 15 miles, or 24 kilometers, west of Cleveland) would both figure prominently in the Cherokee Removal in the late 1830s.The legislative act that created Bradley County in 1836 authorized the establishment of a county seat, which was to be named "Cleveland" after Colonel Benjamin Cleveland, a commander at the Battle of Kings Mountain during the American Revolution. The commissioners chose "Taylor's Place," the home of Andrew Taylor, as the location for the county seat, due largely to the site's excellent water sources. By 1838, Cleveland already had a population of 400, and was home to two churches (one Presbyterian, the other Methodist), and a school, the Oak Grove Academy. The city was incorporated on February 4, 1842, and elections for mayor and aldermen were held shortly afterward.