ALCOA

city, Blount county, eastern Tennessee, U.S. The city is a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was founded in 1913 by the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) on a tract of land known as North Maryville. 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 company led to the procurement of land north of the city of Maryville (q.v.) for plant sites. The community was developed as a planned industrial centre for the production of aluminum pig, ingots, sheet and plate, and aluminum powder and foil. Inc. 1919. Pop. (1990) 6,400.