Charlotte, Dickson County's capital, was built on 50 acres of land purchased from Charles Stewart.

Charlotte was nearly entirely destroyed after a tornado occurred within its city limits, decimating its jail, courthouse, & roughly 80% of the county's records.

It was formed from parts of Montgomery and Robertson counties, and was named for William Dickson, a Nashville physician then serving in the United States Congress.

Dickson County was part of the Military Reserve and was widely settled among the Piney and Cumberland rivers.

Initially, cotton was among the county's predominant industries before rye, oats, corn and tobacco had overtaken it.

[1] General James Robertson built the first ironworks in west Tennessee in Dickson County.

[4][5] Other important iron manufacturers included Anthony and Bernard Van Leer and George F. and Richard C. Napier.

[1] Though a county school board was established in 1807, public education received little government support during the nineteenth century.

For the guerrilla forces, Yellow Creek and what is now Cumberland Furnace were favorite rendezvous points.

[1] The Nashville and Northwestern Railroads which were constructed through the county's southern portion became a magnet for migrants from the Great Lakes & Great Plains, who settled in the new railroad towns of Dickson (originally called Sneedville), Tennessee City, White Bluff, and Burns.

[1] The Coming Nation, a socialist communalist paper established by Julius Augustus Wayland in Greensburg, Indiana, was relocated to the Ruskin Colony.

Using a network of highly motivated volunteers known as the "Appeal Army" to increase its subscription sales, the Appeal's paid circulation climbed to over a quarter million by 1906, and half a million by 1910, making it the largest-circulation socialist newspaper in American history.

The Hotel Halbrook, where Clement was born, still stands in Dickson, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ruskin Cave, site of the former socialist colony, is located 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Dickson.

Historically, Dickson County has been a Democratic stronghold; Ulysses Grant carried it in 1868, but after that, it did not vote Republican again until Nixon's 1972 landslide.

Not only this, but George H. W. Bush was even able to slightly improve on Reagan's vote share, despite the small national swing towards the Democrats in 1988.

However, in the subsequent three elections, Bill Clinton recaptured the county by double digit margins, and Tennessee native Al Gore carried it by over 8%.

Neither Hillary Clinton in 2016 nor Delaware native Joe Biden in 2020 was able to reach so much as a third of the county's vote.

These elections coincide with the state's gubernatorial primaries and begin September 1 of each non-presidential even-numbered year.

These elections coincide with the state's gubernatorial primaries and they assume office on September 1 of each non-presidential even-numbered year.

The Board was created and empowered by State Law with authority to oversee the operation of Dickson County Schools.

Prior to the 1920s, numerous private high schools and colleges existed in Dickson County.

[38] Nashville State Community College maintains a satellite campus in Dickson, offering associate degrees to prepare students to transfer to four-year universities or enter the workforce.