Tellico Village

History

The origins of Tellico Village date back to the late 1960s with the plan known as Timberlake, a planned city that would have been located along the shores of the Tellico Reservoir in Loudon, Blount, and Monroe counties, and the communities of Tellico Village, Greenback, and Vonore. The city, would have been able to support a population base of roughly 30,000 residents, and provide employment opportunities with commercial and industrial developments. Tellico Village was created along the shores of Tellico Lake, which was formed due to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) damming the Little Tennessee River at its confluence with the Tennessee River. Tellico Dam was completed in November 1979 after a long battle, which involved the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and a fish called the snail darter. As part of the project, the TVA acquired additional land above the high water line of the reservoir (Tellico Lake), much of it taken by eminent domain. Part of this additional land was later sold to Cooper Communities, Inc., which established Tellico Village in 1986.

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