Reelfoot Lake occupies much of the northern part of the county.
A contemporary front-page account in the Nashville Banner tells that one lawyer—Captain Quentin Rankin—was murdered by being hanged and then shot, while the other—Colonel R.Z. Taylor (grandfather of author Peter Taylor)—escaped by swimming across the lake in the dark while being shot at by Night Riders.
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In October 1908, a feud between the West Tennessee Land Company and Obion County residents over control of Reelfoot Lake resulted in two of the company's officers, Quentin Rankin and Robert Z. Taylor, being kidnapped by a vigilante group known as the Night Riders.
It was originally the western part of Obion County, but was created as a separate county due to difficulties in crossing the swampy drainages around Reelfoot Lake to reach Obion's county seat.