The park preserves the Red Clay Council Grounds, which were the site of the last capital of the Cherokee Nation in the eastern United States from 1832 to 1838 before the enforcement of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

It encompasses 263 acres (1.06 km2) of land immediately north of the Tennessee–Georgia state line and consists of a museum, replicas of Cherokee structures that once stood on the site, and three hiking trails, along with other amenities.

[4] In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Cherokees organized a national government modeled on the United States Constitution and were recognized by European Americans as one of the Five Civilized Tribes.

[11] The following year, the Cherokee Nation permanently moved the seat of their government to Red Clay due to the site's central location and the abundant water source from the Blue Hole Spring, which they considered sacred.

[13] A total of eleven general councils were held at Red Clay between 1832 and 1838 under the command of Principal Chief John Ross, each attended by an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Cherokees.

[14] During the meetings, the Cherokees sent delegations to Washington, D.C. to argue to Congress and the President on their behalf, and repeatedly rejected agreements to surrender their lands east of the Mississippi River and move west.

To prevent a Cherokee uprising, Brigadier General John E. Wool ordered approximately 300 men to take up position near the Red Clay Council Grounds in mid-1836.

Many additional detention camps were located in northern Bradley County between Charleston and Cleveland, with two of the largest at Rattlesnake Springs, where tribal officials agreed to continue their system of government in their new home.

[16] The railroad, which had been planned through the area prior to the Cherokee removal, was completed in 1852, and a train depot and section house known as both "Red Clay" and "State Line" was constructed on the site.

On November 27, 1863, two days after the end of the Chattanooga Campaign, Union troops destroyed the depot and tracks at Red Clay in an attempt to prevent the Confederate Army from using the railroad through the area.

Beginning in 1864, the site was used by the Army of the Ohio as a staging ground in preparation for the Atlanta Campaign, with additional troops under the command of William Tecumseh Sherman arriving months later.

The land that is now Red Clay State Park was sold and divided multiple times in the roughly 100 years after the Civil War and continued to be used as farmland.

[16] However, the Georgia chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a historical marker commemorating the site less than 1⁄2 mi (0.80 km) south of the state line on November 10, 1935.

[16] In January 1970, Corn reached an agreement with the Bradley County Quarterly Court for them to purchase the land for the purpose of developing it into a tourist attraction.

The following year, Bill Jenkins, then the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Conservation who later became a congressman, began working with then-Governor Winfield Dunn to appropriate funds for the establishment of the state park.

[21] The Red Clay Council Grounds were added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on September 14, 1972,[1] and the following month, the preliminary planning study for the park was completed.

[22] A series of archaeological excavations of the site took place between 1973 and 1975 and uncovered a small number of artifacts, but failed to determine the location of the council house.

[42] The James F. Corn Interpretive Center inside the park is a museum that features exhibits about 18th and 19th century Cherokee culture, government and politics, economy, recreation, religion and spiritual beliefs, and history.

[16] An unmarked grave believed to belong to Sleeping Rabbit, a prominent Cherokee who fought in the War of 1812, is reportedly located in the eastern part of the park.