Local Libraries

McMinn County E.G. Fisher Public Library 1289 Ingleside Avenue Athens, TN 37303 423- 745-7782 www.fisherlibrary.org   Etowah Carnegie Public Library 723 Ohio Avenue Etowah, TN 37331 423-263-9475 www.etowahlibrary.com   Calhoun City Library 746 Highway 163 Calhoun, TN 37309 423- 336-2348   Englewood Public Library 103 Carroll Street Englewood, TN 37329 423- 887-7152   Niota Public Library 11 East Main Street…

Read more

Cherokee Genealogy Resources

Eastern Band of Cherokee – Many people want to know about becoming a Tribal Member based on a relative being Cherokee or of Cherokee descent. Enrollment in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is governed by Cherokee Code, Chapter 49, Enrollment, and restricts enrollment to the following: 1. A direct lineal ancestor must appear on the 1924 Baker Roll of the…

Read more

Historical Societies & Archives

McMinn County Historical Society McMinn County Courthouse, Room #7 6 West Madison Ave Athens, TN 37303 423- 744-3911 McMinn County Historical Society   Monroe County Archives 105 College Street, Suite 10 (located in the Historic Monroe County Courthouse) Madisonville, TN 37354 423-420-0910 http://www.monroetnarchives.org/   Polk County Historical and Genealogical Society 140 Commerce St Benton, TN 37307 423-338-4506 www.pchgs.com   Polk…

Read more

Historic Unicoi Turnpike Trail

Historic Unicoi Turnpike Trail

This 67-mile trail between Vonore, TN and Murphy, NC follows an historic trade and war path that predates written history. Along the way you can stop to visit historic sites and museums that reveal the many layers of history that unfolded along this ancient route. A restored 2-mile section of the original roadbed allows visitors to walk in the footsteps…

Read more

Native Blooms

Native Blooms

Cherokee National Forest Early spring offers the first glimpse of wildflowers in the Cherokee National Forest and the Tennessee Overhill. That’s when trees begin to bud and wildflowers begin to peep up through the forest floor. In March and April the region erupts with bloodroot, fire pink, trillium, and crested dwarf iris while redbuds and dogwoods shed white and purple…

Read more

Tellico Plains Ranger Station

Tellico Plains Ranger Station

The Tellico Plains Ranger Station is a restored Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) camp. It was the first CCC camp in the southeastern United States, and one of the first in the nation. CCC Company 1453 from Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia established the camp, constructing the Ranger Station and associated buildings. The station is in use today by the Cherokee National Forest…

Read more

Old Copper Road

Old Copper Road

The Old Copper Road was painstakingly built in 1853 to connect the copper mines in southeastern Tennessee’s Copper Basin to the railroad terminus at Cleveland, Tennessee. John Caldwell hired local Cherokee Indians and whites to build the road, an arduous task completed in two years. Upon completion, copper haulers drove teams of oxen and mules over the road for two…

Read more

Ocoee Flume Line and Dams

Ocoee Flume Line and Dams

The Ocoee powerhouses, dams and flume line are part of an ambitious hydroelectric power project that began in 1910. Constructed by Eastern Tennessee Power Company, this series of historic hydroelectric structures are tucked into the narrow Ocoee River Gorge, all located within a stretch of only 12 miles. Ocoee Dam Number One was built over the site of the old…

Read more

Monroe County Courthouse

Monroe County Courthouse

The Monroe County Courthouse, designed by Baumann Brothers and Company of Knoxville, was built in 1897 to replace an earlier courthouse that sat on the same site. The construction of the new courthouse coincided with plans of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to build a new rail line linking Atlanta and Knoxville which would pass directly through Madisonville, giving the…

Read more

Little White House

Little White House

Englewood, Tennessee is not a national capital. It is not a state capital. It is not even a county seat. Rather it is a charming little town in southeastern Tennessee that grew out of three textile mill villages. Yet it has its own “White House.” The “Little White House” is a wooden frame house that sits in the middle of…

Read more