Tellico Dam is a dam built by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Loudon County, Tennessee, on the Little Tennessee River as part of the Tellico Project. Planning for a dam structure on the Little Tennessee was reported as early as 1936 but was dismissed until 1942 for official development. Unlike the agency's previous dams built for hydroelectric power and flood control, Tellico Dam would be constructed to support tourism and economic development through the planned city concept of Timberlake, which aimed to support a population of 42,000 in a rural region that was documented being in poor economic conditions. Completed in 1979, it created the Tellico Reservoir and is the last dam to be built by the Tennessee Valley Authority.