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Welcome to Athens ...

The city of Athens is located in McMinn County<1> and is the County Seat for McMinn County.

The location of Athens has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Athens has a population of 14,021 people<3> (see below for details).

Athens is 970 feet [296 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Athens lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel west from Athens (for example, toward Dunlap), you will leave Eastern Time and cross into the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT).

The telephone area code for Athens: (423)

While we don't have a date for the founding of Athens, you might get a feel for its origin by knowing that their post office opened  in 1823.

Websites for Athens ...

Official Website: www.cityofathenstn.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Athens had an population of 14,021 people. This is an increase of 4.18% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 6.06% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Athens had a population of 13,458 people (which is 25.75% of the total population of McMinn County). This makes Athens the county's most populous community.

The population of Athens represents 0.21% of the total population of Tennessee (which has 6,346,105 people), making it the state's 41st most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 13,458 people, the population of Athens increased 1.8% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 13,220 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Athens.

Communities Also Named Athens ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 28 communities that are also named Athens - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas (2), Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Athens.

Communities near Athens ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Athens.

  • Jacktown
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacktown
    • Jacktown lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<5> to the east of Athens.
    • Estimated population in 2014: 67,319 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jacktown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Jacktown
  • Sweetwater
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sweetwater
    • Sweetwater lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<5> to the northeast of Athens.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,956 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sweetwater have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Sweetwater
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sweetwater<6>
  • Madisonville
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madisonville
    • Madisonville lies 14 miles [22.5 km]<5> to the east of Athens.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,024 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Madisonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Madisonville
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Madisonville<6>
  • Etowah
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etowah
    • Etowah lies 8 miles [12.9 km]<5> to the southeast of Athens.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,527 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Etowah have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Etowah
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Etowah<6>
  • Surprise
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Surprise
    • Surprise lies 13 miles [20.9 km]<5> to the north of Athens.
    • Estimated population in 2014: 1,799 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Surprise have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Surprise
  • Decatur
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Decatur
    • Decatur lies 11 miles [17.7 km]<5> to the northwest of Athens.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,663 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Decatur have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Decatur
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Decatur<6>
  • Englewood
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Englewood
    • Englewood lies 6 miles [9.7 km]<5> to the east of Athens.
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,538 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Englewood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Englewood
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Englewood<6>
  • Benton
  • Lakewood Village
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Village
    • Lakewood Village lies 18 miles [29 km]<5> to the northwest of Athens.
    • Population from the 2010 Census: 990 people
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakewood Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Google Maps centered on Lakewood Village
  • Tellico Plains

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Athens. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Athens.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Athens. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Athens.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Athens. Our list includes 24 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Athens.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Athens ...

Looking for more information about Athens? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Athens, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Athens.

Adding Athens to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Athens in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention that we've found for Athens was the List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7> From that list, the Athens post office opened in 1823.

We also found Athens in the U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details about the above, see References and Mentions for Athens.

The official website for Athens: www.cityofathenstn.com/

The official website for McMinn County: www.mcminncounty.org/

The official website for State of Tennessee: https://www.tn.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Tennessee's counties, including McMinn, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Athens.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Athens - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Athens) to Point B.If you need the driving distance, we recommend that you use one of the Mapping Services listed on our Map Page for Athens. Since we usually use Google Maps, we've provided the following link for your convenience: Google Map and Driving Directions starting from AthensOur distance measurements begin at a specific point in Athens. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4525, Longitude: -84.6039       In this case, the coordinates for Athens have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

 

 

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This page was last modified/updated: 24 May 2023