TELLICO VILLAGE was established in 1986, encompasses 4600 acres along TELLICO LAKE in Loudon and Monroe counties. Located approx. 35 miles from downtown Knoxville and about 1 1/2 hours to Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains. 

The crystal clear waters of TELLICO LAKE, lush golf courses and the beautiful scenery created by being nestled in the foothills of the GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS have attracted families from across the country and around the world. 

TELLICO LAKE is an ideal setting for a full range of boating and fishing activities. The amenities of TELLICO VILLAGE include three championship golf courses, a yacht and country club with dining and social activities, tennis courts, outdoor and indoor swimming pools, racquetball courts - there is also a new wellness center.  

MORE INFO ON TELLICO VILLAGE...... 

Tellico Village is a planned community on the western shore of Tellico Reservoir in Loudon County, about 30 miles southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Tellico Village is symbolic of United States society at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It represents the choices Americans have made with regard to how they use their land.

Tellico Village exists because a federal government agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), decided to dam up the Little Tennessee River at its confluence with the Tennessee River. The dam was completed in November 1979 after a long battle. The battle famously involved the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and a small fish called the snail darter (see snail darter controversy). 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. to become what is now Tellico Village. Controversy still exists today because land forcibly taken from owners was resold for an upscale community.

The community has three golf courses and a yacht and country club. The names of the golf courses, like the names of the streets and neighborhoods (each neighborhood within Tellico Village has its own name) are derived from American Indian words and names, mostly Cherokee. These include Toqua, meaning fish; and Tanasi, which was the name of a town that was the capital of the Cherokee Nation between 1721 and 1730. Tanasi is also the word from which Tennessee was derived.

The Tellico Dam controversy was an important turning point regarding how Americans think of and use their land and environment.

The fact that the dam opponents nearly stopped the dam makes the Tellico controversy an especially important episode in U.S. environmental history. The case involved the U.S. Supreme Court, the several presidential administrations (most notably the Carter Administration), and the U.S. Congress.