city, seat (1795) of Blount county, eastern Tennessee, U.S., about 15 miles (25 km) south of Knoxville and a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The settlement was founded in 1790 around Fort Craig (built in 1785). It was named for the wife of William Blount, governor of the Territory South of the Ohio River. A few miles northeast of the city is a restored log cabin (1794) where Sam Houston, who later became president of the Republic of Texas, taught school in 1812. In 1910 the first of a series of power dams was begun on the nearby Little Tennessee River and its tributaries. The purchase of these dams by the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) led to the procurement of land just north of Maryville for a plant site.
That area was incorporated as Alcoa in 1919.
The city's economy is based mainly on the aluminum industry and on the manufacture of automotive parts. Services, including tourism, are also important. Cherokee National Forest and Fort Loudoun State Historic Park are southwest of the city. Inc. 1838. Pop. (1990) 19,208; (2000) 23,120.
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