TVA Norris Community

Norris was a model planned community built and owned by Tennessee Valley Authority, initially housing TVA executives and employees. Planning and design of the town began in 1933, championed by early TVA executive Earle Draper — a landscape architect and town planner. At the time, Charles Barber was a consultant for TVA and would serve as TVA’s chief architect from 1935-1936. 

Barber McMurry designed low- and mid-cost homes in Norris — as well as at TVA’s Pickwick and Wheeler Dam sites. The Norris homes were intentionally modest with a tasteful scale, with an eye toward establishing community and comfort. Materials included natural stone and native timber, and every house had a porch. Unlike the surrounding rural area, Norris was fully electric. The entire community was walkable and directly tied to its natural context, a radical idea for a planned community at the time.