[6] The area where Calhoun is located was settled by John Walker (c. 1770-1834), a part-Cherokee grandson of Nancy Ward and a prominent figure in the formation of McMinn County.

Walker helped contract the Cherokee Turnpike Company in 1808 to maintain a road between Knoxville and Georgia.

What is now Cahoun began around 1808, when Walker established a ferry across the Hiwassee River between the present locations of Calhoun and Charleston.

In 1954, the pulp and paper giant Bowater (now Resolute Forest Products) established a plant in Calhoun that soon grew to become one of the largest newsprint mills in North America.

The mill, which dominates the western half of Calhoun, produces 750,000 metric tons of newsprint and specialty paper per year.

Their cross river rivals were the Charleston panthers who also later closed their high school in 2001.

On December 11, 1990, a heavy fog led to a crash involving 99 vehicles along Interstate 75 near Calhoun, killing 12 and injuring 42.

As a result, electronic speed limit signs equipped with fog sensors have been installed along the Calhoun section of the interstate.

The town of Charleston is located across the river to the south, on the Bradley County side.