Niota, TN

Niota is a McMinn County city in eastern Tennessee, set along U.S. Route 11 between Sweetwater and Athens. The 2020 population estimate was 772. The community began as Mouse Creek, then changed its name to Niota in 1897 to avoid confusion with another railroad stop. Tennessee State Route 309 connects the city west toward Interstate 75, and the surrounding roads carry traffic through the Hiwassee Valley’s farms and foothills.

The Niota Depot is the city’s defining landmark. Built in 1854 for the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, it is Tennessee’s oldest surviving railroad depot and now houses Niota City Hall. The building stayed in passenger and freight use until 1972, when the Southern Railway deeded it to the city. Niota Elementary and the wider McMinn County school system keep the town tied to nearby rural families, while the depot keeps the railroad era visible in the middle of town. Niota is a small Tennessee city whose name change, highway links, and antebellum brick station all come from the movement of people and goods through this corridor.