Land, Power and a Little Fish: The Tellico Dam Story

Today we tell the story of the battle over the Tellico Dam, the last major project of the Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA's ambitious plans for the Tellico project included not only a dam and lake but also the development of a brand-new city to be called Timberlake.

However, the project faced fierce resistance from landowners who were being forced to sell their land, the Cherokee, whose most important Overhill towns were going to be flooded by the dam, and environmentalists trying to save the habitat of the endangered snail darter fish.

A lawsuit over the fish won a victory in the Supreme Court for those wanting to stop the Tellico Dam, but that wasn’t the end of the story, as you’ll find out in this episode.

If you like our stories, be sure to subscribe to the Stories of Appalachia podcast on your favorite podcast app or on our YouTube channel.

Thanks for listening!