Crossville is the seat of Cumberland County, Tennessee. The city began at the intersection of a branch of the Great Stage Road, connecting Knoxville with Nashville, and the Kentucky Stock Road, which connected Middle Tennessee with Kentucky. Initially, the settlement was known as Lambeth's Crossroads but when its first post office was established in the 1830s, it was known as Crossville. It was chosen as the county seat when Cumberland County was formed in 1856.