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CHistory
History · Vonore

Vonore dates to 1890, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Vonore was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1970.

1890founded
2on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vonore began

When was Vonore founded?

1890

Vonore dates its founding to 1890 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1970.

First census: 524 in 19702020 census: 1,574136 years

How historic is Vonore?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1890.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Vonore’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vonore is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vonore’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.3% of homes (±1.2) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register2 listings, 9.1 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder

Tennessee towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Tennessee town has 6.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Vonore’s 9.1 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1890.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Vonore’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Vonore are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Vonore, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A National Historic Landmark2 places on the National Register, including Fort Loudoun, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vonore’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vonore’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Vonore’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Mc Ghe, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Mc Ghe
1890–1944
Vonore
1893–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Fort LoudonLittle RiverMcGheeMialoquo
Gone or out of use
Halls Ferrycrossing
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vonore
Niles-McGheeVonoreVonoreWear

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

2 historic places in Vonore

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmark
1
Fort Loudoun
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Fort Loudoun
Tellico Blockhouse SiteFort Loudoun★
Sites★ landmark
★ Landmark
Fort LoudounSite
Tellico Blockhouse SiteSite

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Vonore came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vonore.

Read it all →

Vonore developed at the confluence of the Little Tennessee River and the Tellico River, a place of indigenous settlement for thousands of years. It was a center of numerous Cherokee towns along the rivers.

Vonore is near the center of one of the richest archaeological regions in the southeastern United States. The now-submerged Icehouse Bottom site was occupied by indigenous cultures in the region as early as 7500 B.C.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vonore, 1890 to 1965

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890
    FoundingVonore is established
  3. 1890Post officeThe Mc Ghe post office opens
  4. 1893Post officeThe Vonore post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1941Born hereMike Stratton is born here
  8. 1944Post officeThe Mc Ghe post office closes
  9. 1965LandmarkFort Loudoun named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Vonore, decade by decade

Today15 recent
2013-05-26 Arcyria denudata Fr 33146620132013-05-26 Arcyria denudata Fr 3314662013-05-12 Lentinellus subaustralis R.H. Petersen 32811020132013-05-12 Lentinellus subaustralis R.H. Petersen 328…2013-05-12 Lentinellus subaustralis R.H. Petersen 32810720132013-05-12 Lentinellus subaustralis R.H. Petersen 328…Xylaria cubensis 2166302012Xylaria cubensis 216630Xylaria cubensis (216629)2012Xylaria cubensis (216629)Ramariopsis corniculata (Schaeff.-Fr.) R.H. Petersen 2972342012Ramariopsis corniculata (Schaeff.-Fr.) R.H. Petersen …Mycena luteopallens22012Mycena luteopallens2Dacryopinax elegans2012Dacryopinax elegans2012-10-22 Hygrocybe psittacina var. perplexa (A.H. Sm. & Hesler) Boertm 27451320122012-10-22 Hygrocybe psittacina var. perplexa (A.H. S…Vonore-library-city-hall-tn12009Vonore-library-city-hall-tn1Vonore-heritage-museum-tn12009Vonore-heritage-museum-tn1Vonore-bank-lodge-tn12009Vonore-bank-lodge-tn1Vonore-view-south-tn12007Vonore-view-south-tn1Sequoyah-mound-vonore-tn12007Sequoyah-mound-vonore-tn1Overhill-cherokee-map-full2007Overhill-cherokee-map-fullMap
On the map

Vonore on the map, 1935 to 2003

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vonore. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Vonore on the 1935 USGS mapVonore on the 1941 USGS mapVonore on the 1986 USGS mapVonore on the 2003 USGS map1935Vonore sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Vonore.

People over time

Vonore, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001980200020201,574

Grew from 524 people in 1970 to 1,574 in 2020, 3 times over.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vonore’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Rarity BayIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Vonore’s history

What year was Vonore founded?

In 1890, according to Wikidata. Vonore’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1970 counted 524 people here.

How does Vonore rank for history?

Vonore is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Vonore?

Two places: the Fort Loudoun (listed 1966) and the Tellico Blockhouse Site (1975).

How old are the homes in Vonore?

1% of Vonore’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1991.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (15), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.