History of Alcoa

#1
1chattyvols1

1chattyvols1

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#1
Ever since college I've had a curiosity of the town. I remember their football program in the Clinic Bowl in 88/89. I know when I was in college their rival game with Maryville was a big deal.

What little I read, the town started with WWII? Or atleast rose to prominance then. I remember as a teenager that Alcoa rims were the ones to have.

Where can I find more historical information about the town? Not necessarily about their football program. I can see that on prep data base.
 
#2
#2
Well Wikipedia, of course.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoa,_Tennessee

There are links for other sources at the end of the article.

Their dams were pretty interesting. Chilhowee Lake is awesome (just above Tellico Lake) and was created by an Alcoa dam. There are several others. They powered the plant during the industrialization for WWII.
 
#3
#3
Thunder Good-Oil said:
Well Wikipedia, of course.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoa,_Tennessee

There are links for other sources at the end of the article.

Their dams were pretty interesting. Chilhowee Lake is awesome (just above Tellico Lake) and was created by an Alcoa dam. There are several others. They powered the plant during the industrialization for WWII.
Click to expand...

Alcoa sold 4 dams they owned in NC to a utility company earlier this year. It was an issue because their manufacturing plants in NC closed over a decade ago but Alcoa had a long term operating license and still made money selling electricity. The basic process for producing aluminum hasn't changed in over 100 years.
 
#4
#4
Alcoa, TVA, and Oak Ridge were all very interesting to the Germans. They sent over spy teams with the idea they would sabotage things like dams and war material manufacturers. Alcoa was important because the aluminum was critical to aircraft. Luckily they were all caught before they could do anything.
 
#6
#6
From an economic standpoint, Alcoa is interesting because it is the one case of a sustained, natural monopoly in US history.
 
#7
#7
n_huffhines said:
From an economic standpoint, Alcoa is interesting because it is the one case of a sustained, natural monopoly in US history.
Click to expand...

Sustained monopoly of what? A hundred years ago Alcoa developed a town, housing, streets, roads, schools, dams, infrastructure to support their mega factory.
Now days it's a bit player in the community and has given most of its land and influence away.
 
#8
#8
When I was in college they leased several hundreds or thousands of acres to UT for $1 per year.
 
#9
#9
And now Alcoa(the company) is Arconic.

It is an interesting story. One of the dams is where the jump scene was filmed for the movie The Fugitive.

There are some beautiful lakes, Fontana and Santeetlah.

Chilhowee not so much.
 
#10
#10
VolStrom said:
Sustained monopoly of what? A hundred years ago Alcoa developed a town, housing, streets, roads, schools, dams, infrastructure to support their mega factory.

Now days it's a bit player in the community and has given most of its land and influence away.
Click to expand...

As I recall, they had a resource monopoly. Nobody else had access to something they used in the process of making aluminum. I can't remember specifics.
 
#11
#11
DancingOutlaw said:
Alcoa, TVA, and Oak Ridge were all very interesting to the Germans. They sent over spy teams with the idea they would sabotage things like dams and war material manufacturers. Alcoa was important because the aluminum was critical to aircraft. Luckily they were all caught before they could do anything.
Click to expand...

Not only that, but it was on the critical infrastructure list during the Cold War as well. I don't recall where I saw it, but the US believed it to be one of the primary targets of the Soviets in a theoretical nuclear exchange.
 
#13
#13
They made sheets of aluminum in various thickness. Those sheets were sold and used to make anything aluminum. A few years ago Alcoa foil was sold in the grocery store.
 
#14
#14
Roustabout said:
And now Alcoa(the company) is Arconic.

It is an interesting story. One of the dams is where the jump scene was filmed for the movie The Fugitive.

There are some beautiful lakes, Fontana and Santeetlah.

Chilhowee not so much.
Click to expand...

Alcoa is still a company. They spun off Arconic, which is the aeronautical/automotive part of the business.
 
#15
#15
Grand Vol said:
Not only that, but it was on the critical infrastructure list during the Cold War as well. I don't recall where I saw it, but the US believed it to be one of the primary targets of the Soviets in a theoretical nuclear exchange.
Click to expand...

One reason International Harvester was used to make M1's. The military noted that Springfield Armory, Winchester, Colt, Harrington, etc. were all pretty concentrated in one place and if the northeast was hit weapon production would be stopped. IH was thought to be a bit more obscure and also farther inland so bombing it would be more difficult.
 
#19
#19
1chattyvols1 said:
If the company went out of business would Alcoa, Maryville and/or Blount County become obsolete?
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If they had went out of business 40 years ago, Blount county would have been devastated. Now it would have little effect. Not sure if they are even a top five employer in the county.
 
#20
#20
1chattyvols1 said:
If the company went out of business would Alcoa, Maryville and/or Blount County become obsolete?
Click to expand...

The plant is doing very little of what it used to. Hence the reason for selling the dams, they didn't need them for power anymore and didn't want to be in the hydro business. Alcoa has operations all over the world, it would be surprising if they were to go out of business.
 
#21
#21
DancingOutlaw said:
The plant is doing very little of what it used to. Hence the reason for selling the dams, they didn't need them for power anymore and didn't want to be in the hydro business. Alcoa has operations all over the world, it would be surprising if they were to go out of business.
Click to expand...


It's very unlikely for the entire company, but if they stopped all operations in Blount, it would have little effect now.

Way back, they ran buses out to the rural areas for their workers. Back then a good portion of their workforce also farmed. That played a big part of how they were able to strike for extended periods and get those nice contracts.
 
#22
#22
DancingOutlaw said:
The plant is doing very little of what it used to. Hence the reason for selling the dams, they didn't need them for power anymore and didn't want to be in the hydro business. Alcoa has operations all over the world, it would be surprising if they were to go out of business.
Click to expand...

The plant just invested heavily in the automobile segment and spent a few hundred million on a new rolling mill and other equipment, I doubt they're going away anytime soon. They sold the dams because the CEO knew he was going to separate the company and was getting out of the smelting business and wanted the cash.
 
#24
#24
This is what I was talking about

ALCOA's monopoly in aluminum was at first due to a patent on a low cost process to reduce bauxite into aluminum. After the patent expired, their ownership of bauxite reserves allowed them to maintain their monopoly position.
Click to expand...
 
#25
#25
Yes bauxite, I can remember many an argument between me and my dad over our country's need to be a global police force. His go to was always bauxite. 🇺🇸
 
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