Top of the World, Tennessee
Top of the World is an unincorporated community in rural Blount County, Tennessee.
History
The land was originally the home of the Cherokee Nation, who were mostly displaced to Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears in 1838. A grant of was made to Daniel D. Foute in 1837. This included the area now covered by Top of the World, which was purchased by a developer in the early 1960s.Construction of the Top of World Estates by Roy and Charles Headrick was reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel in June 1965. The community surrounds Lake in the Sky, a artificial lake formed by a dam built in 1966.
Geography
The community lies in an area called The Flats, on a spur of Chilhowee Mountain in East Tennessee. The surrounding country is rugged. The Foothills Parkway passes just to the northwest, and the boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park lies just to the southeast. The neighboring park has a natural forest environment of yellow pines and hardwood species. Controlled burns are used to reduce the risk of uncontrolled fires. There is a healthy black bear population.The community is relatively isolated. The Foothills Parkway is the only road to Top of the World that is passable by school bus. Otherwise it must be accessed by steep and winding secondary roads.