This long hunter camped under a rock shelter in the mid-18th century and later moved his family to the area.

[8][9] In 1906, a new courthouse square was built in Huntsville using a beige-colored native sandstone for the buildings' outer walls.

The Baker family, which arrived in the Huntsville area shortly after the Civil War, has been active in state and national politics for several decades.

Baker later served as Senate Majority Leader (1981–1985) and White House Chief of Staff (1987–1988).

Huntsville's town center is situated along State Route 63 (SR 63, Howard Baker Highway), although the town's municipal boundaries stretch westward to SR 63's junction with U.S. Route 27 (US 27, Scott Highway).

SR 63 intersects Interstate 75 (I-75) approximately 15 miles (24 km) east of Huntsville, near the base of the Cumberland Plateau.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.3 square miles (8.5 km2), all of it land.

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 1,270 people, 537 households, and 249 families residing in the town.