Coffee County was formed in 1836 from parts of Bedford, Warren, and Franklin counties. It was named for John Coffee, a prominent planter, land speculator, and militia officer. Similar to other counties in this area of the state, planters here cultivated mostly tobacco and hemp, produced by the labor of enslaved African Americans. In the period after the Reconstruction era ended and into the early 20th century, whites in Coffee County committed eight lynchings of blacks. This was the fifth-highest total of any county in the state, but three other counties also had eight lynchings each.
Coffee County has twelve Century Farms, the classification for farms that have been operating for more than 100 years. The oldest Century Farm is Shamrock Acres, founded in 1818. Other Century Farms include:
As of the census of 2000, there were 48,014 people, 18,885 households, and 13,597 families residing in the county. The population density was 112 people per square mile. There were 20,746 housing units at an average density of 48 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 93.43% White, 3.59% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.91% from other races, and 1.00% from two or more races. 2.19% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 18,885 households out of which 32.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.90% were married couplesliving together, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.00% were non-families. 24.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.96. In the county, the population was spread out with 25.10% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 23.60% from 45 to 64, and 14.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $34,898, and the median income for a family was $40,228. Males had a median income of $32,732 versus $21,014 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,137. About 10.90% of families and 14.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.80% of those under age 18 and 15.20% of those age 65 or over.
