Town file
Tellico Plains, Tennessee
Tellico Plains, Tennessee (Monroe County, Tennessee) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 265, "Dirty Desires In The Backwoods" (3 March 2022). Tellico Plains is a small town of 909 people in Monroe County, in the far south-east corner of Tennessee, in the panhandle where the state meets North Carolina, about an hour and a quarter from Knoxville.
- Town
- Tellico Plains
- County
- Monroe County
- State
- Tennessee
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 265
- Approximate location
- 35.366, -84.298
Episode 265 / 3 March 2022 / 170 min / full
Dirty Desires In The Backwoods
"This is Telelico Plains, Tennessee; it is in Monroe County, area code 423." about 0:05:08
The case: Murder of Roxanne Woodson (February 1978); Murder of Kathy Clowers (1976). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 909
- Median age
- about 42
- Median home value
- $142,100
- Two-bedroom rent
- $651
- Cost of living
- 77
- Religious
- 65%
- Property crime
- ▼ just below
- Violent crime
- ▲ about 10% above
History, in brief
- Late in the 1800s there was a minor gold rush in the area, centred on nearby Coker Creek; it is now a gold-panning tourist attraction. about 0:08:36
- In the early 20th century Tellico Plains became the base of operations for the Babcock Lumber Company, which clear-cut the forest, sold the land to the U.S. Forest Service, and left the forest to be rebuilt from about 1920. about 0:10:07
- Charles Hall was mayor of Tellico Plains for 31 years and a Justice of the Peace, and the Charles Hall Museum holds his historical collections. about 0:20:19
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A newcomer from Illinois calls it a great community with friendly people, but says there is nothing for children to do and asks for a community centre to steer them away from drugs and crime."about 0:11:08
3 stars
"A lifelong resident says it is a small town with hardly any newcomers and very few things to do besides Bald River Falls and the Skyway, and calls it boring with few opportunities."about 0:11:46
2 stars
"A resident of one year says the town is rural and close-minded, schools are full of unmotivated students, and drugs are done in bathrooms and sold from lockers; the only positive is the nearby mountains."about 0:12:14
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Cherry Log, Georgia40 miles
- Pigeon Forge, Tennessee51 miles
- Clayton, Georgia61 miles
- Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia61 miles
- Cosby, Tennessee66 miles
- Maynardville, Tennessee67 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.