Alcoa is a city in Blount County, Tennessee, south of Knoxville. Its population was 10,978 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area.
As its name suggests, Alcoa was the site of a large aluminum smelting plant owned and operated by the Alcoa corporation (Aluminum Company of America). Formerly known as North Maryville, the town was incorporated under its present name in 1919.
History
Early company town
Shortly after the Pittsburgh Reduction Company changed its name to the Aluminum Company of America in 1907, the company began investigating the possibility of establishing a large smelting operation in East Tennessee. The hydroelectric potential of the Little Tennessee River, which exits the mountains about southwest of Alcoa, was one of the primary incentives, as the company's aluminum smelting operation would require massive amounts of electricity. In 1910, the company established a base camp at what is now known as Calderwood, initially known as "Alcoa", and was known as such until the name was reapplied to the company's operations in North Maryville a few years later.
The company considered several potential plant sites in Knoxville, Etowah, and Monroe County, but chose North Maryville due in part to the influence of Maryville mayor Samuel Everett (1864−1941). By 1914, the company had completed the initial purchase of in North Maryville, and had initiated construction of the smelting plant and 150 houses for company employees. ALCOA's chief engineer Edwin Fickes and hydraulic engineer Robert Ewald drew up plans for the town to house the plant's workers. The town design initially called for the acquisition of , and included four sections— Vose and Springbrook in the north (around what is now Springbrook Park) and Bassel and Hall in the south (around what is now the South Plant). Hall, named for the inventor of the aluminum electrolytic process, was originally a segregated community for the plant's African-American workers. Oldfield, a small community between the planned town and Maryville, would later be annexed by the city of Alcoa.
World War I brought about a spike in the demand for aluminum, and the company quickly expanded its North Maryville operations. In 1919, a rolling mill (now West Plant) was completed, and the company purchased the Knoxville Power Company for its Little Tennessee Valley holdings. That same year, the company's town officially incorporated as "Alcoa". C.L. Babcock was the town's first mayor, and Victor Hultquist was the first city manager. Hultquist, who was also ALCOA's superintendent of construction, remained city manager until 1948, and oversaw much of the town's early development. In 1920, Alcoa had a population of 3,358 people living in 700 houses.
The Great Depression and World War II
Early Alcoa was a classic "company town", with the company maintaining a paternalistic relationship with the city. The city's welfare was almost wholly dependent upon the company's fortunes. This presented a problem for the company, which feared that its workforce would leave to look for jobs elsewhere during times of low production. Thus, during the Great Depression, the company maintained steady production levels in spite of the lack of demand for aluminum. Managers sought to cut workers' hours— which at one point dropped to 30 hours per week— rather than slash jobs. By the end of the decade, the company had stockpiled 42,000 tons of aluminum.
The Depression (and accompanying New Deal legislation) also brought about increased labor union activity in Alcoa. A strike in 1934 was forcibly ended when Hultquist deployed a large police force. A second strike in 1937 was broken in a similar fashion, with two striking workers shot and killed and the National Guard forced to intervene.
World War II proved immensely profitable for ALCOA, as aluminum was needed for aircraft construction. Production increased 600% during the war, and the company's Alcoa operations workforce swelled to 12,000. In the early 1940s, the company built its North Plant, which at the time of its completion was the world's largest plant under a single roof.