Таунсенд, Теннесси: История и современность города у подножия Смоки-Маунтинс

Townsend is a city in Blount County, Tennessee. The city was chartered in 1921 by persons who were involved with the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company. The population was 550 at the 2020 census. For thousands of years a site of Native American occupation by varying cultures, Townsend is one of three "gateways" to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It has several museums and attractions relating to the natural and human history of the Great Smokies.

Native Americans were the first inhabitants of Tuckaleechee Cove on the Little River; the oldest archaeological finds in the cove date to 2000 B. C. A number of pottery fragments and ax heads dating to the Woodland period 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 at this site, with one branch heading west to the Overhill towns along the Little Tennessee River and another heading south to North Carolina. By the time the first Euro American settlers arrived in Tuckaleechee in the late 18th century, the Cherokee had abandoned these villages. They moved south and west to evade encroachment by the colonists. 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. The exiled Irish patriot and Young Irelander John Mitchel lived and farmed here with his family for some years in the late 1850s. A Tennessee Historical Commission marker dedicated to him is located near the intersection of US 321 and SR 73.

+Townsend racial composition Race Number Percentage White (non Hispanic) 516 93.82% Other/Mixed 24 4.36% Hispanic or Latino 10 1.82%
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 550 people, 182 households, and 100 families residing in the city.

As of the census of 2000, there were 244 people, 124 households, and 80 families residing in the city. The population density was There were 217 housing units at an average density of 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 65 or over.

U. S. 321, also known as Lamar Alexander Parkway and Wears Valley Road, is the main highway connecting Townsend with Walland (and eventually Maryville) to the northwest and Pigeon Forge (via Wears Valley) to the east northeast, where it intersects U. S. 441. Near the eastern end of Townsend, U. S. 321 tees north and then curves northeast, while Tennessee 73 continues straight and then turns southeast 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 7 mile (11 km) to the west, and the Sugarlands and Gatlinburg are roughly 18 mile (29 km) to the east.

Townsend is home to the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, which preserves various aspects of the region's history, and the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum, which recounts the area's logging history. Next to the heritage center is the new National Park Service Collections Preservation Center, which archives items from all of the national park units in the area (though not open to the public). Tuckaleechee Caverns – a mile long cave system that reaches depths of up to 150 feet (46 m) – is also nearby. Just to the north and west of Townsend, the Foothills Parkway is a national parkway that traverses Chilhowee Mountain and offers multiple scenic overlooks at high elevations, with views of the Smokies to the south and the Tennessee Valley and Cumberland Plateau to the north and west. as of 2016, road construction on the parkway to complete the "missing link" from Walland to Wears Valley can be seen from Townsend during the mid day and afternoon. This section eventually opened in late 2018, more than half a century after the first section opened in 1966.