Tellico Tales: Charles Hall Museum
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Stokley Bottoms
The Charles Hall Museum and Heritage Center houses many layers of Tellico Plains history. Relics date back to pre-historic Native Americans including artifacts from the Cherokee, the last Native Americans to inhabit Gr. Telliquo and its sister city, Chatuga. They lived all along the Tellico River and creeks including the vast plains that lie behind the museum. The Cherokee in this area lost their homelands due to the 1819 Calhoun Treaty. During the Cherokee Forced Removal of 1838 the few Cherokee remaining in the Coker Creek area, along with the many Cherokee from North Carolina and some Creek were forced to walk through this area to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi.
Indian Mounds were still visible when Stokely Brothers and Company acquired over 1,000 acres of land in 1926 that spread out over the plains. The large farm and cannery opened in the spring of 1926. Land holdings totaled 1400 acres by 1927. The cannery closed in November 1982.
For 32 years Charles was wagon master or chief scout of the Wagon Train that was started in 1958 to show the need for a road from Tellico Plains to North Carolina. This endeavor eventually resulted in the Cherohala Skyway. In 1997, the Tennessee State Legislature named the bridge over Laurel Branch on the Cherohala Skyway The Charles Hall Bridge for his 38 years of leadership and determination to have the project started and finished.
The Hall Museum started with Halls private collections of thousands of pictures, documents and artifacts. Charles and his wife, Billie, built Building 1 in 2003 and Building 2 in 2008. Soon after the museum opened in 2003, they placed the museum in a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable foundation governed by a board of directors for the benefit of the town of Tellico Plains and Monroe County. The Hall Museum preserved local, Appalachian, and American history and continues to grow. *provide by Pam Mathews*
[Caption]: Charles Hall
Additionally, we would like to say thank you to Mr. Charles Hall, who is also the author of, The History of Tellico Plains TN. This book was the source for information and most pictures used in Tellico Tales.
Project Leader: Hannah Morris Project Assistants: Merritt Sherrer & Isabella Wilson Project Advisor: Sheann Graham Constructor: Thomas Graham Constructor Assistant Kolton Stakely.
Sponsored by: Charles Hall Museum
Topics.
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Location. 35° 21.998′ N, 84° 17.835′ W. Marker is in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, in Monroe County. It is on Cherohala Skyway (Tennessee Route 165) near Veterans Memorial Drive, on the left when traveling east. Marker is located outside the Charles Hall Museum. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 229 Cherohala Skyway, Tellico Plains TN 37385, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in East Tennessee. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Tellico Tales
Credits. This page was last revised on July 21, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 28, 2024, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 373 times since then and 64 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 28, 2024, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
