Vonore

Vonore is a town in Monroe and Blount counties, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 1,474 as of the 2010 census. The current mayor is Bob Lovingood.HistoryVonore's location at the confluence of the Little Tennessee River and the Tellico River places it near the center of one of the richest archaeological regions in the southeastern United States. The now-submerged Icehouse Bottom site was occupied by Native Americans as early as 7500 B.C., and the now-submerged Rose Island was home to a significant Woodland period (c. 1000 B.C. - 1000 A.D.) settlement. A substantial Mississippian period (c. 1000 - 1600 A.D.) village was located at Toqua, immediately south of Vonore. There is some evidence that Toqua's Mississippian village was the village of "Tali", visited by the Hernando de Soto expedition in 1540.By the time Euro-American explorers arrived in the area in the 18th century, the Overhill Cherokee had established several villages along the Little Tennessee. These villages included Tanasi, the name source for the state of Tennessee, and Chota, the "mother town" of the Overhills. Mialoquo, the home of the Cherokee chief Dragging Canoe, was located just north of the modern US-411 bridge. Tuskegee, which developed adjacent to Fort Loudoun, was the birthplace of Sequoyah, creator of the written Cherokee syllabary.