Gibson County is located in West Tennessee, one of the state's three "grand divisions," and was created in 1823 from the Chickasaw Indian Cession, and is named in honor of John H. Gibson. The county seat is Trenton.

The first white settlement was made in 1819 by Thomas Fite and his brother-in-law John Spencer and James F. Randolph. They built the first house on the Little North Fork of the Forked Deer, about 8 miles east of Trenton. Luke Biggs located about four miles northeast of Trenton. In the spring, David Crockett settled a short distance northeast of Rutherford. Population within the region reached 500 in 1823; Congressman David Crockett introduced the bill to form Gibson County.