[4] It was settled during the early migration of pioneers from Virginia to the west after the American Revolutionary War.

During the American Civil War, the Battle of Fort Donelson took place in February 1862.

In August 1862 their forces partially burned the county seat, Dover, to prevent its re-capture by Confederate Lt. Col. Thomas G.

Saltpeter is the main ingredient of gunpowder and was obtained by leaching the earth from the cave.

[1] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 13,657 people, 5,178 households, and 3,355 families residing in the county.

From the antebellum period, conservative whites historically voted Democratic, adding to the Southern Block.

Until 2000, Richard Nixon was the only GOP presidential candidate to gain forty percent of the vote in the country.

Before 2000, the Democratic presidential candidate lost Stewart County only in 1968, when segregationist George Wallace ran for the American Independent Party.

Since the turn of the 21st century, Stewart County's voters have increasingly supported Republican candidates in recent presidential elections.

In the 2008 presidential election, John McCain received approximately 53.7% of the vote;[17] he was the first Republican to carry the county.