Toqua (Tennessee)
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Toqua Site
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Toqua on Henry Timberlake's 1762 "Draught of the Cherokee Country"
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| Location | Monroe County, Tennessee |
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| Nearest city | Vonore |
| Coordinates | 35°34′05″N 84°10′27″W / 35.56806°N 84.17417°WCoordinates: 35°34′05″N 84°10′27″W / 35.56806°N 84.17417°W |
| Built | circa 900-1000 |
| NRHP Reference # | 78002618 |
| Added to NRHP | 1978 |
Toqua (also known as Toquo) is a prehistoric and historic Native American site in Monroe County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. Along with the Overhill Cherokee village for which the site was named, Toqua was home to a substantial pre-Cherokee town that thrived during the Mississippian period (1000-1600). One of the Toqua site's most outstanding features was a 25-foot (7.6 m) platform mound built by the town's Mississippian inhabitants. The site's Mississippian occupation may have been the village of Tali, which was visited by the Hernando de Soto expedition in 1540.
The Toqua site is now submerged by Tellico Lake, an impoundment of the Little Tennessee River. The lake is managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the shoreline above the site is now a recreational area managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The Little Tennessee River, which flows westward from its source in the Appalachian Mountains, traverses northern Monroe County for roughly 40 miles (64 km) before emptying into the Tennessee River near Lenoir City. Tellico Lake, created in 1979 by the construction of Tellico Dam at the mouth of the Little Tennessee, covers the lower 33 miles (53 km) of the river and the lower 22 miles (35 km) of the Tellico River. The Toqua site was situated along the south bank of the Little Tennessee at its confluence with Toqua Creek, approximately 22 miles (35 km) above the mouth of the river.
The shoreline above the now-submerged Toqua site comprises the Toqua Day Use Area Beach and Boat Ramp, which is situated along Tennessee State Route 360 approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the road's junction with U.S. Route 411 at Vonore. The site can be easily be observed from both the road and the boat ramp.
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