the Little Tennessee and Tellico rivers. State Route 360 (Unicoi Turnpike) passes across the island, connecting the state park to Vonore to the north and the rural areas of Monroe County and the Cherokee National Forest to the south. The park's visitor center, which stands adjacent to the fort, contains a small museum with a model of the fort and several artifacts from the various excavations. Several miles of hiking trails meander through the woods around the fort, as well as in the McGhee-Carson Unit across the lake to the south. The Cherokee scholar Sequoyah was born at Tuskegee, just south of the fort, circa 1770. The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, which is operated by the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, stands just west of the fort, on the other side of Highway 360. The museum includes a burial mound containing over 200 burials excavated during the Tellico Archaeological Project. This had investigated several Cherokee town sites in anticipation of the flooding of the valley by Tellico Dam. Monuments to the Overhill towns of Tanasi and Chota, the "mother town" of the mid to late 18th century, are located along Bacon Ferry Road, just off Highway 360 about south of Fort Loudoun. The site of the Tellico Blockhouse, an American outpost that operated from 1794 to 1807, is located across the Little Tennessee River to the east of Fort Loudoun. The blockhouse and its associated structures were uncovered by researchers during the Tellico Archaeological Project, and are now marked by wooden posts and stones. Several artifacts excavated from the blockhouse site (40MR50) are on display at the Fort Loudoun visitor center. Legacy Loudon County, Tennessee, and its county seat, Loudon, are both named for the fort (Loudon County borders Monroe County to the north). The Tennessee Valley Authority's Fort Loudoun Dam, which stands to the north in Lenoir City, and its associated lake are also named for the fort. Other entities named for the fort include Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative, a local electricity distributor; Fort Loudoun Medical Center in Lenoir City, and Fort Loudoun Middle School in Loudon. See also Fort Blount Fort Southwest Point Fort Watauga List of National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places listings in Monroe County, Tennessee References External links Fort Loudoun State Park – official site Fort Loudoun Association "Mud & Blood" Tennessee State Library photographs Loudon Loudoun (Tennessee) Buildings and