Tellico Plains, Tennessee
Encyclopedia
Tellico Plains is a town in Monroe County, Tennessee
, United States
. The population was 859 at the 2000 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the town has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), all of it land.
The town is located on the Tellico River
near the location where the river emerges from the higher peaks of the Appalachian Mountains
and into the less rugged Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians
.
displaced from the east and north by European colonial encroachment.
Tellico Plains occupies the former site of the Cherokee
town of Great Tellico
, which was one of the more important towns of the Overhill Cherokee
during the late 18th century. Two traditional Native American paths met at Great Tellico, the Trading Path
and the Warrior Path.
During the 1840s Elisha Johnson
, a former mayor of Rochester, New York, built the Tellico River
Mansion on his plantation
in Tellico Plains. With his brother Ebenezer Johnson
, the former mayor of Buffalo, New York, he purchased the Tellico Iron and Manufacturing Company. During the American Civil War
, the Confederacy commandeered the iron works for production of munitions. General William Sherman's
Union Army
soldiers destroyed the Tellico Iron Works. Sherman pardoned Elisha Johnson for his part in supplying the Confederate Army because of Johnson's northern birth and sympathies. Johnson returned to the North, settling in Ithaca, New York
, where he died in 1866.
The nearby Coker Creek was the site of a minor gold rush during the late 1800s. The small crossroads town of Coker Creek has a gold-panning tourist attraction. Visitors can rent pans and receive professional instructions from the proprietor of the souvenir shop. Visitors can also explore the old gold mines in the surrounding hills in the hopes of finding a nugget with some of the famous yellow ore, although the mines are in a state of disrepair.
Gold mining continues on at least one private plot located slightly to the southwest of the tourist attraction.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Tellico Plains became the base of operations for the Babcock Lumber Company
, which ran logging operations throughout the Tellico River basin. When it finished clearcutting, it sold its land to the US Forest Service, which has spent decades restoring the woods. Tellico Plains was incorported in 1911. Its first mayor was Columbus Jenkins, father of prominent attorney Ray Jenkins
.
of 2000, there were 859 people, 393 households, and 227 families residing in the town. The population density
was 549.8 people per square mile (212.6/km²). There were 446 housing units at an average density of 285.5 per square mile (110.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.74% White, 0.81% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.12% from other races
, and 1.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.75% of the population.
There were 393 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples
living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 39.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $18,750, and the median income for a family was $31,087. Males had a median income of $27,045 versus $18,333 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $13,234. About 19.2% of families and 24.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 38.9% of those age 65 or over.
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 859 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Tellico Plains is located at 35°22′0"N 84°17′56"W (35.366575, -84.298955).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), all of it land.
The town is located on the Tellico River
Tellico River
The Tellico River rises in the westernmost mountains of North Carolina, but it flows mainly through Monroe County, Tennessee. It is a major tributary of the Little Tennessee River and the namesake of Tellico Reservoir, a reservoir created by Tellico Dam, which impounds the lower reaches of the...
near the location where the river emerges from the higher peaks of the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
and into the less rugged Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians
Ridge-and-valley Appalachians
The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending from southeastern New York through northwestern New...
.
History
The area was inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. The historic Muscogee settled here, before moving further south. They were followed by CherokeeCherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
displaced from the east and north by European colonial encroachment.
Tellico Plains occupies the former site of the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
town of Great Tellico
Great Tellico
Great Tellico was a Cherokee town at the site of present-day Tellico Plains, Tennessee, where the Tellico River emerges from the Appalachian Mountains. Great Tellico was one of the largest Cherokee towns in the region, and had a sister town nearby named Chatuga. Its name in Cherokee is more...
, which was one of the more important towns of the Overhill Cherokee
Overhill Cherokee
The term Overhill Cherokee refers to the former Cherokee settlements located in what is now Tennessee in the southeastern United States. The name was given by 18th century European traders and explorers who had to cross the Appalachian Mountains to reach these settlements when traveling from...
during the late 18th century. Two traditional Native American paths met at Great Tellico, the Trading Path
Trading Path
The Trading Path is not simply one wide path, as many named historic roads were or are...
and the Warrior Path.
During the 1840s Elisha Johnson
Elisha Johnson
Elisha Johnson was an engineer and early resident of Rochester, New York. He served the then village as its fifth mayor.Johnson was born in Chautauqua County, New York and graduated from Williams College. He moved to Rochester in 1817 and purchased of land on the east bank of the Genesee River...
, a former mayor of Rochester, New York, built the Tellico River
Tellico River
The Tellico River rises in the westernmost mountains of North Carolina, but it flows mainly through Monroe County, Tennessee. It is a major tributary of the Little Tennessee River and the namesake of Tellico Reservoir, a reservoir created by Tellico Dam, which impounds the lower reaches of the...
Mansion on his plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
in Tellico Plains. With his brother Ebenezer Johnson
Ebenezer Johnson
Ebenezer Johnson was the first mayor of Buffalo, New York, serving May 1832 – March 1833 and 1834–1835. He was born in New England on November 7, 1786, and studied medicine in Cherry Valley, New York with Dr. Joseph White, a well-known physician of the time. He came to Buffalo in 1810 where he...
, the former mayor of Buffalo, New York, he purchased the Tellico Iron and Manufacturing Company. During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Confederacy commandeered the iron works for production of munitions. General William Sherman's
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
soldiers destroyed the Tellico Iron Works. Sherman pardoned Elisha Johnson for his part in supplying the Confederate Army because of Johnson's northern birth and sympathies. Johnson returned to the North, settling in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
, where he died in 1866.
The nearby Coker Creek was the site of a minor gold rush during the late 1800s. The small crossroads town of Coker Creek has a gold-panning tourist attraction. Visitors can rent pans and receive professional instructions from the proprietor of the souvenir shop. Visitors can also explore the old gold mines in the surrounding hills in the hopes of finding a nugget with some of the famous yellow ore, although the mines are in a state of disrepair.
Gold mining continues on at least one private plot located slightly to the southwest of the tourist attraction.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Tellico Plains became the base of operations for the Babcock Lumber Company
Babcock Lumber Company
The Babcock Lumber Company was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1887 and conducted logging operations in the eastern United States. In 1951 the company diversified into building material distribution...
, which ran logging operations throughout the Tellico River basin. When it finished clearcutting, it sold its land to the US Forest Service, which has spent decades restoring the woods. Tellico Plains was incorported in 1911. Its first mayor was Columbus Jenkins, father of prominent attorney Ray Jenkins
Ray Jenkins
Ray Howard Jenkins was an American lawyer, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the surrounding region, throughout much of the 20th century...
.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 859 people, 393 households, and 227 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 549.8 people per square mile (212.6/km²). There were 446 housing units at an average density of 285.5 per square mile (110.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.74% White, 0.81% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.12% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.75% of the population.
There were 393 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 39.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $18,750, and the median income for a family was $31,087. Males had a median income of $27,045 versus $18,333 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $13,234. About 19.2% of families and 24.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 38.9% of those age 65 or over.
Schools
- Tellico Plains High School
- Tellico Plains Junior High School
- Tellico Plains Elementary School
- Rural Vale Elementary School
- Coker Creek Elementary School
External links
- The Tellico Plains Mountain Press
- Guide to Tellico Plains — Tellico Plains Chamber of Commerce site