Yes, I know. Another entry about license plates. Please, do not groan just yet, as I am confident you will find this tale interesting and with a splash of intrigue. It will also supply you with a solid piece of cocktail party trivia (as promised in this blog’s first entry!).
Back to the story at hand. When you are constantly on the lookout for rare county plates, you begin to take notice of certain trends. One, of course, is rather drab: the proliferation of “Big Four” county plates (Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Cobb) in Georgia – in fact, they make up over 33% of the total registered passenger vehicles in the state! This always leaves you hungry for something fresh, and when a rare county plate does not appear for you, it is always nice to see an out of state tag every once in a while to break the monotony. You will never be hard pressed to find a selection of Alabamas, Floridas, and Tennessees on the roads of Atlanta.
One observation that frequently came up between John and me was the proliferation of Blount County, Tennessee plates throughout the Atlanta metro area. Everywhere we go around Atlanta, there seems to be far more than a fair share of Blount County plates on the roadways. Here is a just a MINUTE sampling of the Blounts I have come across:
Now you may ask – what on earth is Blount County? Don’t fret — we were asking the same question. Neither of us have visited Blount County, nor honestly knew where it was located, so here are some basic facts on this mysterious and elusive place:
Location: East Tennessee, part of the Knoxville MSA
County Seat: Maryville
Population: 124,177 (2012 US Census estimate; 10th most populous in TN)
Notability: None? (Maybe aside from hosting a massive DENSO manufacturing plant that makes automotive stop/starters, employing over 3,000 in the county. Or maybe as home of Alcoa, the site of a large aluminum smelting plant that serves as the town’s namesake. Yikes. OK, I must concede they do have Blackberry Farm, which I would enjoy visiting at some point)
With this knowledge at hand, John and I attempted to rationalize this phenomenon, but we were left with more questions than answers, chiefly:
- Why were there so many more Blounts on the roads than plates from Hamilton, Davidson, Rutherford, Knox or Williamson, counties with significantly greater populations and virtually the same (if not better) access to Atlanta via major roadways?
- Could these people all just be passing through town? If, so where are they going? In fact, there is not even an interstate highway in Blount County (with the exception of the small spur of I-140 ending in Alcoa), which made it even more perplexing.
- Is there actually a method or direction to their travels? Is everyone in Blount County literally just an itinerant gypsy, having registered their cars back in Blount for a life of endless road wanderings, never to return?
- If Atlanta is truly their destination, what could these people possibly be doing in here? Is life so incredibly mundane in Blount County that there has been some mass exodus of Blountians to the great city of Atlanta? But if this is the case, why would they not attempt to stimulate their senses in closer cities with a similar array of amenities, such as Knoxville, Chattanooga, or Nashville?
Alas, the presence of these plates vexed us for months. There was even talk of an East Tennessee CountyTrip to attempt to find the source of these cars and plates. Maybe there was some secret underground factory churning out cars with Blount County plates, or some nifty contraption that surreptitiously slapped a Blount County plate on every non-local car caught passing through the county. Maybe there was some sort of secret society or guild of freemasons that used the Blount County plate as a nifty form of identification of one of their own. Maybe it was all government conspiracy. We thought the answer would never be discovered.
Fortunately, after months without answers, the powers of Google came to my rescue. I guess I never thought anyone would take to the Internet to inquire about such an absurd and obscure phenomenon, but I was wrong. I found two interesting threads on the topic, and I highly recommend glancing at both. The first message board is from a Kentucky fan in South Florida fretting about the number Blount plates he sees – and the responses he gets confirm they are rental cars! The second board, from the flyertalk online travel community, basically confirms that these are more specifically Hertz rental cars. Chalky White gives a most interesting statement:
Someone told me that Hertz has basically paid the salary for Blount County to hire an employee that handles renewing Hertz cars. Seems like a good deal to me–pay some bumpkin $30,000 to handle a ton of renewals for your company. Saves a lot of headache and you get the benefit of having one person to talk to for all your issues.
But of all places, why Blount? dwbf11 gives the reasoning:
Blount County, Tennessee has no “Wheel Tax” meaning there is no yearly fee to re-register a license plate there. Makes sense why a large agency such as Hertz would try to plate many of its cars there, since registration fees are probably a huge annual cost, and if they can get the plate once and keep using it free of renewal charges, that would represent a huge savings.
Just for my own confirmation, I just so happened to cruise by a Hertz office on my way home from work, and low and behold, look what I saw (pardon for the blurry images.. I was in a slow moving traffic jam):
Blounts out the kazoo! There were probably far more hiding back there.
So there you have it, and I guess we can consider this mystery solved. Have any of you been to Blount County? Is it worth a visit?
COUNTYTRIP 
It’s definitely worth a visit! 🙂
Saw several of my home county plates in the Pacific Northwest, wondered what the heck was going on until I rented a car from Hertz and it had blount county plates. I figured it was to get out of stricter emissions laws out west, but found your info on the “wheel tax” to be interesting……Cracked me up to find your article…
So noooooot worth a visit all we have is the mall and the movie theatre and the drive in and about a thousand restaurants and banks to visit. Unless of course you want to go to the local high school football game on Friday night (go govs!) Or check out the park down town and ride the greenway on some bicycles. But I’ll tell you what IS worth it. Driving through those mountains on a warm fall day seeing all those leaves change colors. Or hiking up trails (trust me the view at the top is 100% WORTH it) or swimming in the river or fishing in the lake. In blount county we may not have much (in fact we have friggin diddly squat) but we do have a lot of history and having those mountains all around us is is worth everything.
I completely agree!
We were talking about our chances of getting a Blount car when we head to Florida next week–we usually do get one, and yes, it’s from Hertz. Thanks for solving the mystery, though the “bumpkin” comment you quote seems a bit harsh.
What??
We said “I completely agree”.
How is that harsh?
Lived here my entire life! Not as many “bumpkins” as you may think! It is a beautiful state and Blount County in particular is GORGEOUS! It is the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, home to many lakes, rivers, flows, fauna, Cades Cove and many other great attractions. Just up the road is Dollywood, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge come visit! Check out Honeysuckle Hideaway on Airbnb if you decide to come up!
I worked at the Lake mary, FL Westin hotel (seminole county) for 4 years and noticed a glut of Blounts there. I thought they might be rentals as it is one of the closest Hotels to the Sanford international airport. I never searched this topic until now because i thought nobody would care enough to post about it! After moving to Madeira beach on the gulf coast in pinellas county, FL a few months ago, and seeing even more Blounts, I had to take to the web. Great article and nice job uncovering the mystery of the Blount.
Thank you very much for this insightful article. There are tons of Blount cars in Florida!! Several years ago, the was an overabundance of Florida plates from Manatee County for similar reasons.
As a native East Tennessean, I’ve wondered about this for some time. I was reminded of the quandary when I saw several such plates this weekend traveling from Georgia to Florida to watch Tennessee play in their bowl game. Because of the bowl, some of those plates may have belonged to actual Blount Countians. I will add that Maryville is also the home of former Governor and current U.S. Senator, Lamar Alexander.
The Knoxville airport is actually located in Alcoa, which is Blount County. Pretty much all of the rental cars coming out of Greater Knox are based at the airport w/ Blount tags.
We would love to show off what we love about Blount County. Around ⅓ of the county is part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with Cades Cove being one of the most visited areas of the park. Our gateway city, Townsend, is considered “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies.” Come visit!
Worth a visit if you would like to see the most visited national park in the country.
I have wondered the same thing about Blount County cars being everywhere. It did seem strange that no matter where I went, there was always a Blount County native nearby.
We do have to pay to renew each year, but the cost is really low, and we don’t have an additional wheel tax (for now).
As someone who has been born and raised in Maryville (Blount County) it is pretty funny to read this. A few things, there is not much to this town. It’s beautiful, but it’s small. We love going to Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Atlanta because they are all within 3 hours and it’s kind of a vacation for us to get away from our small town (without having to spend a pretty penny). We also have to go through Atlanta to get to other vacation spots, like Florida, so that’s probably a reason you see so many going through. Also, I pay a renewal fee for my tags every single year so I’m not sure how that person got that information. Anyhow, funny article and pretty cool to see something about my hometown 🙂
If there is “not much to it” then why do you live here? There are alot of things here in Blount County if you open your eyes to look around.
The “motor mile”, is in Blount county. Lots of car dealerships. If you lease a car from them, you will have Blount county tags. Lots of people will rent a car and fly out of Atlanta- saving hundreds on air fare.
I am a Blount Countian through and through…my family has been here since somewhere around 1820. My Great, great, great, great grandfather was the first white settler in this area. This area is rich is history, tradition and wonderful food! Plus we are the quiet side of the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. It is beautiful, the people (at least true Blounts) are friendly and accepting of new people as well as new ideas. It is also rich in Bible believing people! Most “Blounts” were raised in church and have a true relationship with Christ.
I have family in GA, so I run the roads between here and there often. I know a lot of ppl from this area travel through Atl area a lot, it is also our main route to Florida and Alabama. I know you would definitely enjoy the ‘Blackberry Farm,” it is just about 3-4 miles up the road from us. Come and visit, you might want to stay a while!
I lived there for 8 years. The cost was about $35.00/year to renew my license plate. I appreciated it at the time, but I REALLY missed it when I found out how much it cost to register a vehicle in Georgia!!! Blount County has a lot of beautiful scenery, and, if you like curvy roads, the famed “Tail of the Dragon” (Hwy 129) to Deals Gap is located there. This stretch of road is especially popular for motorcycle riders & sports car drivers; it has 318 curves in 11 miles.
I was born and raised in Maryville (Blount County), TN and it is a very special place with growth far beyond belief. We have lots to offer, but first and foremost, tbe beautiful Great Smoky Mountains! This gateway leads you back in time and holds so much history to the settlers of this land. Blount County offers the beautiful Clayton Center for the Arts set on the beautiful site of the Maryville College Campus. Come vist! We offer more than “quirky” license plates! We offer “true Southern hospitality!”
We only voted on the wheel tax two years ago, so this has got to be a newer thing they’ve done. Blount county doesn’t have anything exciting for people in Atlanta, but we do have the mountains and some crazy people (in a good way).
I very proud to be a resident of Blount County. There are alot if things to do and see here including A LOT of history. The great General Sam Houston’s childhood place is here. Although the home is no longer standing the location is marked with flags. The Sam Houston schoolhouse is a wonderful place to visit where he taught school for a short period of time. He joined the Army in downtown Maryville.
We have over 27 miles of greenways to walk or bike. We are one of the top 100 places to retire. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger lived here at one time. Celebrities come to Blackberry Farms Resort everyday along with many many other resorts.
BTW! I am VERY offended by your “bumkin” comnent!
I live and teach in the great Blount County. Most definitely worth a visit. We do have to renew our tags each year for $24. I don’t know how that compares to other nearby counties, but the airport/rental car companies are in Blount County. So that may have more to do with it.
Blount County may seem small, but it has big attractions! Within 20 minutes is Knoxville and all the attractions there, to include our Big Orange Football team. Maryville is also home to Maryville College, which consistently has been voted one of the top ten small colleges in the south. Maryville College also has a state of the art Performing Arts Center, partially paid for by the Clayton Family. Do they ring a bell? It’s also corporate headquarters for Ruby Tuesday, Inc. and Clayton Homes.
Blount County is also gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains, the most visited National Park in the US. If you have not visited there or seen the wildlife in Cades Cove, you are missing out.
Blount County is beautiful! The county encompasses the Smoky Mountains and as you mentioned the Blackberry Lodge (which most can’t afford as it has become a favorite of the celebrities) but just down the road a piece you will find the Black Bear Lodge which caters to those with a taste for gourmet delights and charming cabins. Along with the Smokies we have Chilhowee Lake and Ft. Loudon Lake to provide all the water fun you could desire. Coming out of Gatlinburg you run into Pigeon Forge and your typical vacation entertainment, go-karts, Dollywood and all the ugly tee shirts your heart could desire. Take a time-out and join a baseball game at Smokies Stadium or shop in Pigeon Forge at one of the best outlet malls in the country!
Blount Countians are always on the road! We are 3.5hrs from Atlanta, 2.5hrs from Nashville, 2hrs to Ashville & Biltmore, NC, 1.5hrs to Chattanooga, 3.5hrs from Cincinnati and 2.5hrs to Lexington to visit the Kentucky Horse Park. Don’t tell anyone …. we like our lttle town just the way it is!
Most of all, don’t forget to wear orange, it’s our favorite color! We love to support our UT Vols!!!
As one who is originally from Blount County….it is absolutely worth the visit! It may not have the evening activities of Knoxville, Nashville, or Atlanta but it is still a main tourist destination and home of the Appalachian Ballet Company which is fabulous.
I am from Blount County and it is a wonderful place to visit. We are close to Knoxville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg. Also, we have the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cades Cove ares part of our county. Come for ares visit and fall in love with our county!
I am a Blount county resident and I come to Atlanta three to four times a year to shop. IKEA, specifically, among many others. I love Atlanta.
i am proud to be a native Blount County hillbilly, who spends winters in Tampa. I also see many licenses from Blount County in Tampa almost everyday. Thought it was just the seasonal travelers escaping from the cold Smoky Mountains. Perhaps, all of our friends in Atlanta who are unfamiliar with Blount County should stay home and watch the Braves, so those of us who love Blount County can help to keep it special.
I am from Blount County! Love my little neck of the woods! I love our Tennessee football, the mountains & easy access to bigger cities for day road trips.
I too have seen multiple Blount Count license plates, and upon asking the driver of the car, have been advised the car is a rental car. Anyway I’m delighted to see these plates, reminding me of my hometown “Murvil,” as the natives pronounce “Maryville.” Its a great place to grow up, with excellent schools, sports, outdoors, etc. Atlanta’s also great, but Big Orange Country is very special. Go VOLS!
A big reason for this (I am from Blount County) is that for some unknown reason the “Knoxville” airport isn’t in Knoxville. It is actually located in Alcoa. So alot of rental car places are located in Blount County.
Bloggers never cease to amaze me. Many Blount Countians actually own cars…… can afford to travel to and through Atlanta and the state of Georgia….for business, shopping, recreation, or just plain old amusement. And to reaffirm that Blount County, TN is indeed a wonderful, interesting, and beautiful place to reside.
Yall wrote “If Atlanta is truly their destination, what could these people possibly be doing in here? Is life so incredibly mundane in Blount County that there has been some mass exodus of Blountians to the great city of Atlanta? But if this is the case, why would they not attempt to stimulate their senses in closer cities with a similar array of amenities, such as Knoxville, Chattanooga, or Nashville?”
I can assure you Atlanta is nice, but very little happens there, that we in Blount County have to see or experience. If we feel the need to sit at a stand still in our cars, I’ll do it in my drive way. I’m a proud Blount County resident and I don’t need to share all the special things about our area, because then we’ll have a bunch of Georgia tags up here!
Blount County is soooo worth it. I grew up there and live in Texas now. Even in Tx or when I go somewhere in the SEC, I always see Blount plates. I, always try to strike up a conversation with them and every time they say they are driving a rental. So glad to have and explanation! Go visit!
I live in Alcoa which is in Blount County and yes, it is worth the visit. We are at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and less than 30 minutes to Knoxville. You will find friendly people here and plenty of things to do. We host the Foothills Fall Festival which has brought in big acts such as Tim McGraw. You can stay in quiet Townsend and enjoy hiking in Cades Cove or visit Downtown Maryville for great food and entertainment. The fall colors here are not like any other place and the central location and easy access to interstate 75 or 40 makes getting to and fro easy. I love living in Blount County and would recommend a visit to our prideful community!
“Notability: None”? Visit Blount County and you will not make that statement again. Also home to corporate Ruby Tuesday. Foothills of the Smokies; God spent a lot of time on my home town. It’s beautiful year round and so are the folks that live here. Come visit.
Blount County stinks. Do not move here. Stay away. You will not like it here. Go home, go back, just go away. It’s terrible here. You don’t want to be here. Stay away. Go back. Nothing good here. Stay away.
After living almost all of my life in Blount County, I moved to Orange County, California, a few years ago. It is statistically mind boggling to see so many Blount County cars since the population of the entire state of Tennessee is a third of the population in the cities closest to me. Even when someone suggested rental cars, it didn’t make sense until I read your article. Thanks for resting my mind with your research!
Former Blount Co. resident who is moving back, low car registration fees are nice, not the reason we are coming back…that is because of the people who are friendly and helpful and thoughtful and kind. Btw it cost $953 to register two cars in FL, the same cars that cost $52 to register in Blount Co. FL property tax alone is more that property tax & homeowners ins. in Blount Co. Saving over $5k/yr there. Beautiful mountains, beautiful lakes, pretty sweet!
My dad and my sister live in Bloubt county, not to mention quite a few friends I went to college with. Despite the fact that Maryville is not well known, the city is wonderful and I would recommend that anyone go pay a visit. There are lots of things to do, and I love taking trips up there for activities besides visiting family.
Maybe someone said this already, I didn’t read all the responses; the “Knoxville” Airport is actually in BLOUNT County! Where Hertz Rental is located. Not Knox County.
Dear rental car companies, We thank you for your tax dollars.
No is not worth a visit…In fact, if you’re not from here dont show up. Im tired of all you rubber necks in the left hand lane looking around trying to see whats going on. Get out of my way, some of us have places to go. In fact, some of you locals can get your 30yo dump cars like Dodge Neons, Ford Taurus and old beat up smoke blowin pick up trucks out of the damn way too!! If you’re going to drive under the speed limit then get in the right lane and if you need to make a left turn, dont drive for 10 miles in the left lane before making your turn
Also along with the rentals next to the airport, the strip along there is called the motor mile. Home to many many car lots. Which some people make a special trip just to those lots. If you lease a vehicle through them you will have Blount Co. tags and also if you purchase a vehicle from them and they are the one to issue you your tags and not your local courthouse, you will also receive Blount Co. tags without living in the county.
Defintely a great place to visit. ..I was born and raised thereand will never move away it is beautiful small and friendly!! Wonderful place and only a few miles from pigeon forge tn
Blount County TN. Once known for the 6th safest place to live in North America. Not much going on here in this little dot on the map, but its the place I call home.
I have now lived in Nashville, Lebanon, Cookeville, Knoxville and Maryville. Blount County is by far my favorite place! There are so many wonderful things to do… Cades Cove, Townsend, the Smokies, Tuckaleechee Caverns, Look Rock, Foothills Parkway, and plenty of great things to do, places to eat and great people to meet! Not to mention the Knoxville airport is located in Blount County! 🙂
After 23 years in Blount Co., we moved to Atlanta. We noticed all the Blount licenses and guessed ( correctly, it seems) at the fact of rental cars. It still gives me a bit of a “tug” thinking of all the good things we know exist there. It is worth a trip to visit–the peaceful side of the Smokies!
I’ve lived in Atlanta ( Cobb County) and in Blount County as well. There is no reason in this world that would ever cause me to move back to Georgia. I’ll take being a Blount County “bumpkin” as you say, any day. As for you coming to Maryville, I suggest you stay in Atlanta.
I would not ever live in Cobb Co either, nor would I call it Atlanta.
I live in Los Angeles and on my 15 minute commute to work (which by LA standards is the equivalent to walking to the next block in other cities) I have passed by as many as FOUR cars with Blount County plates. I am from East Tn originally so I always notice them and wonder why they are here. Now I know why! 🙂
Please, people, quit saying nice things about Blount County. We already have enough people living here.
Ask Reggie White what he thought of Blount County! Oh I’m sorry, you can’t, he died in NC and I suspect it was really from a broken heart (and not because he moved away!). If you enjoy daily Civil War re-enactments, people more prejudice than Archie Bunker and a true suspicion of anyone who wasn’t born within a 10 mile radius this is the place for you!
Yes, Blount County’s refusal to implement a wheel tax does make vehicle registration attractive here. It’s not just Hertz, but all of the major rental car companies that have a presence at Blount County’s McGhee Tyson Airport (those damn Knoxville people keep putting their name on it) register significant portions of their fleets here for that reason. The blog is mistaken about free renewals; a basic automobile registration is $24 annually. When the county commission had a brief discussion about creating a wheel tax in April 2015, the expected loss of revenue from the rental car companies moving their registrations was a factor considered. Oddly, when I have rented vehicles here for trips elsewhere, I NEVER get a Blount County or even a Tennessee registered vehicle. Just last week I rented an Ohio van in Alcoa for a trip to the land of Northern Aggression.
I am not a Blount County native. The Air Force saw fit to station me here, and I chose to stay after retirement. I have been all over this country, and there isn’t a better place to live. There is plenty to see and do here, and the weather is generally pretty good. We just need to quit inviting everyone else to come, as it’s beginning to get crowded from all of the people like me who recognize the jewel that is here and move here. The population jump in the nearly 20 years I have been here is amazing.
I, too, resent the “bumpkin” reference. I raised my children here in one of the best education systems in the state, if not the nation. My oldest obtained her master’s degree with no difficulty from a major institution in Washington, DC, and my youngest is an engineering student. You can’t hardly swing a dead cat in Maryville, Alcoa, Townsend, Louisville, or Friendsville without hitting someone with a graduate or post-graduate degree.
I grew up in south Atlanta living with family with the name of Blount, and arrived on this site quite by accident. Love IT. I was fixated with license plates as a child, when Georgia had white metal plates with royal blue paint on the embossing and a sticker across the bottom proudly proclaiming the county of the inhabitants. I moved to Fl in the last several years, and during that time they’ve phased out *their* county stickers, breaking my heart just a little bit more…Love counties, and hope to catch up with you folks soon. Your three NE Fl counties are gems. Trust me. Take a pack lunch from em- a Pig in Valdosta if you can find one. Also take cash, because you could run into a great lunch counter. They, seriously, are all quite historic, and we did get to mosey around Hamilton and others around the *edge* of your planned tour; very picturesque; the Suwanee river was a very early tourist draw.