Unicoi, Tennessee

Unicoi sits at the foot of the Unaka Mountains in upper East Tennessee, and its name comes from a Cherokee word meaning white, possibly referring to the foaming water of the nearby Nolichucky River or to white clays found in the area. The town grew up in the late nineteenth century as a small farming and railroad community in the narrow valley between mountain ridges. Unicoi County was carved from Carter and Washington counties in eighteen seventy-five, and the town serves as a gateway to the Cherokee National Forest, which wraps around it on three sides.

The Iron Mountain and Unaka Mountain ridges visible from town are part of the Blue Ridge highlands that drew early Scots-Irish settlers into these coves. Today Unicoi is best known as a gateway to the Cherokee National Forest.