Townsend, Tennessee
Encyclopedia
Townsend is a city in Blount County
, Tennessee
, in the southeastern United States
. The population was 244 at the 2000 census
. Townsend is one of three "gateways" to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
and the home of several museums and attractions relating to both the natural and human history of the Smoky Mountains.
Dubbing itself "the Peaceful Side of the Smokies," Townsend has the least traffic of the park's three main entrances. The park's other two entrances— one just south of Gatlinburg and the other just north of Cherokee
— are home to multiple commercial attractions that draw millions of tourists each year. Townsend is more low-key, with a handful of inexpensive restaurants and motels, several businesses geared toward outdoor sports, and the world-renowned horse show.
Townsend is situated in Tuckaleechee Cove, one of several "limestone windows
" that dot the northern base of the Smokies. These windows form when erosional forces carry away the older rocks (mostly sandstone), exposing the younger rock below (i.e., limestone). Limestone windows are normally flatter than other mountainous valleys, and are typically coated with rich, fertile soil. Other limestone windows in the area include Cades Cove
, Wear Cove, and Jones Cove. Tuckaleechee Cove is situated between Bates Mountain to the north and Rich Mountain to the south, with the cove's greater population estimated at around 1,500. Little River
, its source high in the mountains on the north slopes of Clingmans Dome
, slices east-to-west through Tuckaleechee and drains much of the cove. The city of Townsend dominates the eastern half of Tuckaleechee.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²), all of it land. As of 2004, annexation increased the size of the town considerably. Townsend is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
of 2000, there were 244 people, 124 households, and 80 families residing in the city. The population density
was 265.7 people per square mile (102.4/km²). There were 217 housing units at an average density of 236.3 per square mile (91.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.95% White, 1.23% Native American and 0.82% Asian.
There were 124 households out of which 15.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were married couples
living together, 3.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 23.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.97 and the average family size was 2.44.
In the city the population was spread out with 12.3% under the age of 18, 2.5% from 18 to 24, 19.3% from 25 to 44, 36.5% from 45 to 64, and 29.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 56 years. For every 100 females there were 86.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,250, and the median income for a family was $50,000. Males had a median income of $41,071 versus $29,375 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $21,647. About 5.9% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under the age of eighteen and 11.5% of those sixty five or over.
have also been found. By 1200 A.D., Tuckaleechee's Native American inhabitants had built a fortified village near the cove's northern entrance.
The Cherokee
arrived in the area around 1600, and built a series of small villages along Little River. The name "Tuckaleechee" is from the Cherokee "Tikwalitsi", and its original meaning is unknown. A branch of the Great Indian Warpath
forked in the cove, with one branch heading west to the Overhill towns
along the Little Tennessee River
and another heading south to North Carolina
. 19th century anthropologist James Mooney
recounted an attempted raid on the Cherokee villages in Tuckaleechee by the Shawano
in the mid-18th century. The raid was thwarted when a Cherokee conjurer named Deadwood Lighter envisioned the position of the Shawano ambush, and the Cherokees surprised the raiders from the rear, killing many of them and chasing the rest back over the crest of the Smokies.
By the time the first Euro-American settlers arrived in Tuckaleechee in the late 18th century, the Cherokee villages had been abandoned.
In 1843, humorist George Washington Harris
published an account of a country dance held that year in Tuckaleechee ("Tuck-a-lucky") Cove on the farm of "Capt. Dillon." Moonshine
, cornbread, eggs and ham were served, and revelers danced to music provided by a fiddle-and-dulcimer
duo. To win dance partners, the men engaged in a display of "feats of strength," while the women quilted
.
and the logging railroad. Flatland forest resources in the Ohio Valley and along the Mississippi Delta
were quickly exhausted, and logging firms began turning more and more to the untapped resources of the more mountainous areas.
In 1900, hoping to capitalize on the thick virgin forests of the Smokies, Colonel W.B. Townsend of Pennsylvania
purchased 86000 acres (348 km²) of land along Little River, stretching from Tuckaleechee Cove all the way to Clingmans Dome. The following year, Townsend received a charter for his new firm, the Little River Lumber Company. A band saw mill was erected in Tuckaleechee, and Townsend gave his name to the community that grew in the mill's vicinity. The Little River Railroad was constructed shortly thereafter, connecting the saw mill with Walland
to the west, and following Little River all the way to Elkmont
, to the southeast.
Townsend quickly profited from the forests of the Little River bottomlands. In 1916, he reported that Little River Lumber's consistently-high rate of planks-per-acre was showing no sign of decline. Indeed, a single giant chestnut tree in the Smokies could produce 18,000 planks of wood. Townsend's success led to a rapid expansion of logging operations throughout the Smokies. By the time the park was formed in the 1930s, nearly two-thirds of area forests had been cut down.http://www.smokymountainsvisitorsguide.com/history.htm
The rapid destruction of the forests of southern Appalachia
led to increased efforts by conservationists to slow or halt logging operations. Col. Townsend initially opposed the effort, but after some wavering, sold at base price 76000 acres (307.6 km²) of his Little River Lumber tract in 1926 to what would eventually become the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Although some predicted that the loss of the lumber industry would doom Tuckaleechee, the explosion in tourism as a result of the park's creation kept the area economy relatively healthy.
) to the northwest and Pigeon Forge (via Wears Valley
) to the east, where it intersects U.S. 441
. Near the eastern end of Townsend, SR73 turns southeast from US-321 and heads straight into the national park
. This road eventually intersects Little River Road at a popular swimming area known as "The Y". From this intersection, Cades Cove
is seven miles to the west, and the Sugarlands
and Gatlinburg are roughly eighteen miles to the east.
Townsend is home to the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, which details life in pre-park days, and the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum, which recounts the area's logging history. The Tuckaleechee Caverns— a mile-long cave system that reaches depths of up to 150 feet - is also nearby. Just to the north of Townsend, US-321 intersects Foothills Parkway
, a national parkway
that traverses Chilhowee Mountain
and offers multiple overlooks with views of the Smokies to the south and the Tennessee Valley
and Cumberland Plateau
to the north and west.
Blount County, Tennessee
Blount County is a U.S. county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its population was 123,010 at the United States Census, 2010. The county seat is at Maryville, which is also the county's largest city....
, Tennessee
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...
, in the southeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 244 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
. Townsend is one of three "gateways" to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
and the home of several museums and attractions relating to both the natural and human history of the Smoky Mountains.
Dubbing itself "the Peaceful Side of the Smokies," Townsend has the least traffic of the park's three main entrances. The park's other two entrances— one just south of Gatlinburg and the other just north of Cherokee
Cherokee, North Carolina
Cherokee is a town in Swain County, North Carolina, USA, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. It is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley, near the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and U.S...
— are home to multiple commercial attractions that draw millions of tourists each year. Townsend is more low-key, with a handful of inexpensive restaurants and motels, several businesses geared toward outdoor sports, and the world-renowned horse show.
Geography
Townsend is located at 35°40′32"N 83°45′18"W (35.675471, -83.755012).Townsend is situated in Tuckaleechee Cove, one of several "limestone windows
Window (geology)
thumb|right|350px|Schematic overview of a thrust system. The [[fault |hanging wall block]] is called a [[nappe]]. If an [[erosion]]al hole is created in the nappe that is called a window. A [[klippe]] is a solitary outcrop of the nappe in the middle of autochthonous material.A tectonic window...
" that dot the northern base of the Smokies. These windows form when erosional forces carry away the older rocks (mostly sandstone), exposing the younger rock below (i.e., limestone). Limestone windows are normally flatter than other mountainous valleys, and are typically coated with rich, fertile soil. Other limestone windows in the area include Cades Cove
Cades Cove
Cades Cove is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. The valley was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park...
, Wear Cove, and Jones Cove. Tuckaleechee Cove is situated between Bates Mountain to the north and Rich Mountain to the south, with the cove's greater population estimated at around 1,500. Little River
Little River (Tennessee)
Little River is a scenic river in Tennessee which drains a area containing some of the most spectacular scenery in the southeastern United States. The first of the river are all located within the borders of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park...
, its source high in the mountains on the north slopes of Clingmans Dome
Clingmans Dome
Clingmans Dome is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, in the southeastern United States. At an elevation of , it is the highest mountain in the Smokies, the highest point in the state of Tennessee, and the highest point along the Appalachian Trail...
, slices east-to-west through Tuckaleechee and drains much of the cove. The city of Townsend dominates the eastern half of Tuckaleechee.
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 city has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km²), all of it land. As of 2004, annexation increased the size of the town considerably. Townsend is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
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 244 people, 124 households, and 80 families residing in the city. 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 265.7 people per square mile (102.4/km²). There were 217 housing units at an average density of 236.3 per square mile (91.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.95% White, 1.23% Native American and 0.82% Asian.
There were 124 households out of which 15.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% 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, 3.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 23.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.97 and the average family size was 2.44.
In the city the population was spread out with 12.3% under the age of 18, 2.5% from 18 to 24, 19.3% from 25 to 44, 36.5% from 45 to 64, and 29.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 56 years. For every 100 females there were 86.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,250, and the median income for a family was $50,000. Males had a median income of $41,071 versus $29,375 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 city was $21,647. About 5.9% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under the age of eighteen and 11.5% of those sixty five or over.
History
Native Americans were the first inhabitants of Tuckaleechee Cove, with the oldest archaeological finds in the cove dating to 2000 B.C. A number of pottery fragments and ax heads dating to the Woodland periodWoodland period
The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures was from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic header for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the...
have also been found. By 1200 A.D., Tuckaleechee's Native American inhabitants had built a fortified village near the cove's northern entrance.
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...
arrived in the area around 1600, and built a series of small villages along Little River. The name "Tuckaleechee" is from the Cherokee "Tikwalitsi", and its original meaning is unknown. A branch of the Great Indian Warpath
Great Indian Warpath
The Great Indian Warpath — also known as the Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail — was that part of the network of trails in eastern North America developed and used by Native Americans which ran through the Great Appalachian Valley...
forked in the cove, with one branch heading west to the Overhill towns
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...
along the Little Tennessee River
Little Tennessee River
The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River, approximately 135 miles long, in the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.-Geography:...
and another heading south to North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. 19th century anthropologist James Mooney
James Mooney
James Mooney was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. He did major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as those on the Great Plains...
recounted an attempted raid on the Cherokee villages in Tuckaleechee by the Shawano
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
in the mid-18th century. The raid was thwarted when a Cherokee conjurer named Deadwood Lighter envisioned the position of the Shawano ambush, and the Cherokees surprised the raiders from the rear, killing many of them and chasing the rest back over the crest of the Smokies.
By the time the first Euro-American settlers arrived in Tuckaleechee in the late 18th century, the Cherokee villages had been abandoned.
In 1843, humorist George Washington Harris
George Washington Harris
George Washington Harris was an American humorist best known for his character, "Sut Lovingood," an Appalachian backwoods reveler fond of telling tall tales...
published an account of a country dance held that year in Tuckaleechee ("Tuck-a-lucky") Cove on the farm of "Capt. Dillon." Moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
, cornbread, eggs and ham were served, and revelers danced to music provided by a fiddle-and-dulcimer
Appalachian dulcimer
The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings. It is native to the Appalachian region of the United States...
duo. To win dance partners, the men engaged in a display of "feats of strength," while the women quilted
Quilting
Quilting is a sewing method done to join two or more layers of material together to make a thicker padded material. A quilter is the name given to someone who works at quilting. Quilting can be done by hand, by sewing machine, or by a specialist longarm quilting system.The process of quilting uses...
.
The logging industry
In the 1880s, the lumber industry experienced a boom, due largely to two key innovations— the band sawBand saw
A bandsaw is a power tool which uses a blade consisting of a continuous band of metal with teeth along one edge to cut various workpieces. The band usually rides on two wheels rotating in the same plane, although some small bandsaws have three wheels. Bandsawing produces uniform cutting action as a...
and the logging railroad. Flatland forest resources in the Ohio Valley and along the Mississippi Delta
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region has been called "The Most Southern Place on Earth" because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history...
were quickly exhausted, and logging firms began turning more and more to the untapped resources of the more mountainous areas.
In 1900, hoping to capitalize on the thick virgin forests of the Smokies, Colonel W.B. Townsend of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
purchased 86000 acres (348 km²) of land along Little River, stretching from Tuckaleechee Cove all the way to Clingmans Dome. The following year, Townsend received a charter for his new firm, the Little River Lumber Company. A band saw mill was erected in Tuckaleechee, and Townsend gave his name to the community that grew in the mill's vicinity. The Little River Railroad was constructed shortly thereafter, connecting the saw mill with Walland
Walland, Tennessee
Walland is an unincorporated community in Blount County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. Walland is the site of a post office and is the place name associated with zip code 37886, which covers an area beyond the Walland community...
to the west, and following Little River all the way to Elkmont
Elkmont, Tennessee
Elkmont is a region situated in the upper Little River Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Throughout its history, the valley has been home to a pioneer Appalachian community, a logging town, and a resort community...
, to the southeast.
Townsend quickly profited from the forests of the Little River bottomlands. In 1916, he reported that Little River Lumber's consistently-high rate of planks-per-acre was showing no sign of decline. Indeed, a single giant chestnut tree in the Smokies could produce 18,000 planks of wood. Townsend's success led to a rapid expansion of logging operations throughout the Smokies. By the time the park was formed in the 1930s, nearly two-thirds of area forests had been cut down.http://www.smokymountainsvisitorsguide.com/history.htm
The rapid destruction of the forests of southern Appalachia
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...
led to increased efforts by conservationists to slow or halt logging operations. Col. Townsend initially opposed the effort, but after some wavering, sold at base price 76000 acres (307.6 km²) of his Little River Lumber tract in 1926 to what would eventually become the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Although some predicted that the loss of the lumber industry would doom Tuckaleechee, the explosion in tourism as a result of the park's creation kept the area economy relatively healthy.
Present-day Townsend
Tuckaleechee Road, which follows U.S. 321, is the main highway connecting Townsend with Walland (and eventually MaryvilleMaryville, Tennessee
Maryville is the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. The city is located south of Knoxville. Maryville's population was 27,258 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Maryville has received a number of accolades for its...
) to the northwest and Pigeon Forge (via Wears Valley
Wears Valley, Tennessee
Wears Valley is an unincorporated area in Sevier County, Tennessee, treated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census county division. As of the 2000 Census, the population of Wears Valley was 6,486....
) to the east, where it intersects U.S. 441
U.S. Route 441
U.S. Route 441 is a spur route of U.S. Route 41. It currently runs for 939 miles from U.S. Route 41 in Miami, Florida to U.S. Route 25W in Lake City, Tennessee. Between its termini, US 441 passes through the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee...
. Near the eastern end of Townsend, SR73 turns southeast from US-321 and heads straight into the national park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
. This road eventually intersects Little River Road at a popular swimming area known as "The Y". From this intersection, Cades Cove
Cades Cove
Cades Cove is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. The valley was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park...
is seven miles to the west, and the Sugarlands
The Sugarlands
The Sugarlands is a valley in the north-central Great Smoky Mountains, locatedin the Southeastern United States. Formerly home to a string of small Appalachiancommunities, the valley is now the location of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park...
and Gatlinburg are roughly eighteen miles to the east.
Townsend is home to the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, which details life in pre-park days, and the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum, which recounts the area's logging history. The Tuckaleechee Caverns— a mile-long cave system that reaches depths of up to 150 feet - is also nearby. Just to the north of Townsend, US-321 intersects Foothills Parkway
Foothills Parkway
The Foothills Parkway is a national parkway which, if completed, will traverse the foothills of the northern Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. The 71-mile parkway will ideally connect U.S...
, a national parkway
National parkway
National Parkway is a designation for a protected area in the United States. The designation is given to a scenic roadway and a protected corridor of surrounding parkland. National Parkways often connect cultural or historic sites.-See also:...
that traverses Chilhowee Mountain
Chilhowee Mountain
Chilhowee Mountain is a low ridge at the outer edge of the Great Smoky Mountains that stretches between the Little Tennessee River to the west and the Little Pigeon River watershed to the east...
and offers multiple overlooks with views of the Smokies to the south and the Tennessee Valley
Tennessee Valley
The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina...
and Cumberland Plateau
Cumberland Plateau
The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia, part of Tennessee, and a small portion of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia . The terms "Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the...
to the north and west.
External links
- City of Townsend Official Website
- Smoky Mountain Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Townsend Chamber of Commerce
- About Townsend
- The Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center
- Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum - Site with museum information and photographs from early 20th century
- Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont