Blountville is an unincorporated community and census-designated
place (CDP) in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The
population was 2,959 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat
of Sullivan County and is the only Tennessee county seat not to
be an incorporated city or town. If Blountville were an actual
town, it would qualify as one of the oldest in the state. However,
it was unincorporated at one point in order to avoid having redundant
government services for such a small area and population. This
unique status has led to some odd results, including a lawsuit
in which is was ruled that neighboring Kingsport was not allowed
to annex areas of Sullivan County within a defined distance of
the courthouse, in effect ensuring that the county seat could
not be annexed out of existence.
Despite its small size, Blountville is the home to the Tri-Cities
Regional Airport primarily because of its central location between
Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, TN/VA. Boone Lake, a local summertime
recreation area, is also located in the Blountville area. NASCAR
champion Alan Kulwicki died in an airplane crash near Blountville.
