The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was born on the American frontier in 1810 as part of the Great Religious Awakening that covered Kentucky and Tennessee. The Corntassel Church and community derived its name from Chief Corntassel of the Cherokee Indians. The original Corntassel Presbyterian Church was dedicated by the Rev. Solon McCroskey and Elders J.R. Latimore, W.A. Peeler, Robert Monteith and A. Morrow in the year 1876.
The Corntassel School was moved from the Hall Farm to The Corntassel Presbyterian Church around 1909. The church served as both church and school until the school was closed in 1944.
The present church building was built in 1912. Lyle Isbill remembers that his grandfather let Bob Isbill borrow his buggy to drive over from Vonore to work on the church building. The lumber for the building was furnished by the late Joe Gray and family.
The church was heated with a coal stove until 1968 when an oil furnace was donated to the church by J. M. Lackey and installed by church member Glen Swabe.
Before the installation of the furnace, Rob McCauley went down each Sunday morning and built a fire in the coal stove to "knock off the chill" before the worship services.
Renovation to the church includes vinyl siding and guttering in May of 1991, and the installation of central heating and air conditioning in February 1993. Finally, in 1995 an annex was built that included indoor plumbing.
Graves in the cemetery date back to the Civil War era. The cemetery is presently maintained by donations to the Corntassel Cemetery Fund.
A few former pastors were: The Revs. Davy Kerr, W.E. Hedgecock, Walter Chestnut, F. A. Gunter, Crawford Conway, Nick Coker, Jim Seagroves and Robert Lockwood.
Ministers at Corntassel CP Church through the years include:
| Minister | Years |
|---|---|
| Rev. Solon McConkey | 1875-1877 |
| Rev. E.J. McConkey | 1878-1882 |
| Rev. Solon McConkey | 1883-1885 |
| Rev. David Keer | 1885-1895 |
| Rev. M.A. Hunt | 1895-1895 |
| Rev. D.M. Keer | 1896-1902 |
| Rev. Wm. Neeley | 1913-1920 |
| Rev. W.F. Patch | 1921-1923 |
| Rev. W.N. Richmond | 1924-1924 |
| Rev. W.A. Emery | 1924-1924 |
| Rev. Barney Stuart | 1925-1925 |
| Rev. W.N. Richmond | 1926-1926 |
| Rev. Barney Stuart | 1927-1927 |
| Rev. W.E. Hedgecock | 1927-1932 |
| Rev. J.B. McCollum | 1932-1933 |
| Rev. W.E. Hedgecock | 1933-1945 |
| Rev. Walter L. Chesnut | 1955-1962 |
| Rev. W.E. Hedgecock | 1962-1965 |
| Rev. F.A. Gunter | 1966-1977 |
| Rev. Oris Ray | 1977-1978 |
| Rev. Crawford Conway | 1979-1985 |
| Robert N. Coker | 1988-1988 |
| Rev. Jim H. Segroves | 1988-1989 |
| Rev. Robert Lockwood | 1989-1992 |
| Geoffrey Knight | 1992-1994 |
| Rev. Scott Johnson | 1994-1999 |
| Rev. Henry Russell | 2000-2000 |
| Rev. Bill Middleton | 2000-2005 |
| Rev. Gary Hartman | 2005-present |