Andersonville, TN

Andersonville sits along Tennessee State Route 61 east of Norris and south of Norris Lake, in a hilly part of Anderson County where farms, wooded slopes, and lake country meet. The community’s founding family donated land for a school that began in 1830. In 1873, local residents financed Big Valley Academy by buying ownership interests in the school, and the institution later became Andersonville Institute after high school grades were added. The 2020 census counted 508 residents.

Norris and the Tennessee Valley Authority changed the wider landscape in the twentieth century. Norris Dam, the planned community of Norris, and the filling of Norris Lake brought new roads, public lands, and recreation close to Andersonville. The community’s 37705 post office area reaches beyond the CDP into northeastern Anderson County, Union County, and parts of Norris, giving the place a wider daily orbit than its size suggests. Andersonville remains a rural route-side community with a long school history and close ties to the lake and county’s Appalachian heritage.