Alcoa Sites

McGhee Tyson Airport was constructed by the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program. Tennessee Encyclopedia: "Some of Tennessee's largest WPA projects reflected the arrival of the age of flight. WPA workers ... built major airports in Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, and at the Tri-Cities." Van West: "In its brief existence during the winter of 1933-34, the CWA began planning for the development of a major airport between Knoxville and the company town of Alcoa in Blound County. Officials in both Knoxville and Blount County wanted a rural location so the airport could easily expand in the future; the Alcoa Highway (U.S....

U.S. Highway 129 was extended to Knoxville during the mid-1930s as part of a New Deal project associated with the construction of McGhee Tyson Airport. The 1935 topographic map, shown here, identifies the road as State Highway 33A. The road was expanded since the time of the original construction. No New Deal-era bridges were located in the partial survey of the road in December 2017.