Prior to the arrival of white settlers in present-day Sevier County in the mid-18th century, the area had been inhabited for as many as 20,000 years by nomadic and semi-nomadic Native Americans.

In the mid-16th century, Spanish expeditions led by Hernando de Soto (1540) and Juan Pardo (1567) passed through what is now Sevier County, reporting that the region was part of the domain of Chiaha, a minor Muskogean chiefdom centered around a village located on a now-submerged island just upstream from modern Douglas Dam.

By the late 17th-century, however, the Cherokee, whose ancestors were living in the mountains at the time of the Spaniards' visit, had become the dominant tribe in the region.

Although they used the region primarily as hunting grounds, the Chicakamauga faction of the Cherokee vehemently fought white settlement in their territory, frequently leading raids on households, even through the signing of various peace treaties, alternating short periods of peace with violent hostility, until forcibly marched from their territory by the U.S. government on the "Trail of Tears".

[6] Since its establishment in 1795, the county seat has been situated at Sevierville (also named for Sevier), the eighth-oldest city in Tennessee.

[7] In November 1861, William C. Pickens, Sheriff of Sevier County, led a failed attempt to destroy the railroad bridge at Strawberry Plains as part of the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy.

Sevier contains the highest point in Tennessee, Kuwohi, which rises to 6,643 feet (2,025 m) along the county's border with North Carolina.

The 6,593-foot (2,010 m) Mount Le Conte, a very prominent mountain visible from much of the central part of the county, is the state's third-highest.

The mayor serves along with a 25-member board of elected commissioners representing districts covering the many small communities spread across the county.

However, the county backed Senator Al Gore in 1990 and Governor Phil Bredesen in 2006 in landslides.

One of the very reasons for the park's creation, however, was also one of the county's first major economic engines: the lumber industry.

In an effort to control this the county has put forth numerous projects to widen existing highways, and the cities of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have also implemented a bus service oriented towards visitors, which ferries tourists to and from various popular destinations throughout the towns via decorated buses referred to as "trolleys.

"[35][36] The Great Smoky Mountains Parkway connects Interstate 40 (Exit 407) to the national park via the cities of Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg.

The Parkway is joined U.S. Route 321 in Pigeon Forge and they run concurrently until US-321 splits away in downtown Gatlinburg.

Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport (KGKT) Sevier County, like much of rural Southern Appalachia, consists of relatively few incorporated municipalities and numerous unincorporated settlements.