Once upon a time, Tennessee was the wild west. A chain of forts was built along the western frontier, from New York to Georgia, including an outpost in the heart of Cherokee country at Fort Loudon. (Oddly, there was another Fort Loudon at the same time located near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.)

The fort, built in 1756, didn't last long. French agents stirred up enmity between the Cherokee and British, claiming the British were poisoning trade goods. The British had a hand in their own problems, though, and the Cherokee placed the fort under seige in late 1759. The fort fell in August 1760.

Fort Loudon is located in present-day Monroe County. Much of the fort's grounds was flooded when TVA built Tellico Dam, with the fort sitting on one side of the resulting lake and the blockhouse on the other.