Bussell Island
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Bussell Island Site
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Ceramic bowl unearthed from the "Round Grave" on Bussell Island, 6.2" diameter
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| Location | Loudon County, Tennessee |
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| Nearest city | Lenoir City, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 35°46′49″N 84°15′22″W / 35.78028°N 84.25611°WCoordinates: 35°46′49″N 84°15′22″W / 35.78028°N 84.25611°W |
| NRHP Reference # | 78002606 |
| Added to NRHP | March 29, 1978 |
Bussell Island, formerly Lenoir Island, is an island located at the mouth of the Little Tennessee River, in Loudon County, near the U.S. city of Lenoir City, Tennessee. The island was inhabited by various Native American cultures for thousands of years before the arrival of early European explorers, and is currently home to Tellico Dam and a recreational area. Part of the island was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its archaeological potential in 1978.
Native American habitation of Bussell Island dates to the Late Archaic period (c. 3000–1000 BC). The island is believed to have been the location of the capital of Coste—a Mississippian-period chiefdom visited by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540—and was later part of the domain of the Overhill Cherokee. In 1887 and 1919, archaeologists conducted extensive excavations at Bussell Island and identified its archaeological importance. The island was drastically modified in the 1970s when the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) built Tellico Dam.
Bussell Island is situated where the Little Tennessee River joins the Tennessee River, just over 601 miles (967 km) upstream from the mouth of the latter. The island originally stretched for about a mile up the Little Tennessee, but the construction of Tellico Dam across the island's west river channel in the 1970s created a reservoir that flooded the southern two-thirds of the island. To contain the reservoir, an earthen levee was built along the island's new south shore and across the island's east river channel, connecting the island to the mainland. TVA's construction of a canal connecting the Tellico and Fort Loudoun reservoirs severed this section of the mainland, thus creating a new island that stretches for about a mile east-to-west, and touches three TVA lakes—Fort Loudoun, Watts Bar, and Tellico.
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