The Norris House, 2009 Edition

Though Nebraska's Sen. George Norris died in 1944, his inspiration and influence on the country has never stopped. The latest example occurred earlier this year when a new model of the "Norris House" was unveiled in Washington.

Note: The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has, for the last five years, conducted a contest for the best designs for alternative energy sources, agriculture applications, green chemistry, green buildings, sustainable water use, and other sustainable technologies at the National Sustainable Design Expo at Washington DC.)

In 2009, more than 40 P3 teams (Protect the Planet, benefit People, Promote Prosperity) competed for prizes at the Expo in Washington. In keeping with the spirit of the TVA's original 1933 sustainable design home at Norris, Tenn., a team of University of Tennessee students recently won a $75,000 grant for its design of a 21st Century Sustainable Design home at this year's competition.

The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) came into being in 1933, as the solution to a number of local problems. The Tennessee Valley receives some 45 inches of rainfall per year and prior to 1933 was the scene of annual massive floods by the Tennessee River and its tributaries. The Norris Dam, named for McCook's Sen. Norris, was the first of 16 TVA dams. It was constructed on the Cinch River, a tributary of the Tennessee River. It was designed to 1. Control flooding, 2. Provide electricity, 3. Maintain navigation depth on the river, 4. Provide recreation facilities. Later, the TVA became a leader in promoting the practice of soil conservation measures for farmers across the United States.

Building the Norris Dam was a very large undertaking. The dam, begun in 1933 and completed in 1936, is huge---1,860 feet long, 265 feet high, and 208 feet thick at the base. It is equipped with two 50,000 watt hydroelectric generators. Total cost was $36 million, including the acquisition of land. (Roughly $421 million in today's dollars)

To house the army of workers needed to construct the dam, the TVA first constructed an entirely new little city, which it called Norris, Tenn., (also named for McCook's Sen. Norris). Creating the new town, as with other TVA projects, was in keeping with the "Progressive Ideals" of Sen. Norris. The project gave the TVA a chance to do a bit of social engineering, and Norris became one of the first of the nation's "Planned Communities," under the leadership of Arthur Morgan. It was reminiscent of the planned garden communities in Great Britain in the 1890s, in that it was designed to be a self- supporting community, containing carefully balanced areas for residential, industrial, and agricultural use. The entire town would be surrounded by a "Green Belt," a commons area of undeveloped space, which was to be protected from development by rigid zoning laws.

Norris, Tenn., was designed to accommodate a population of about 1,400. The streets were laid out to follow the natural contour of the hills, and not all houses faced the street. The houses were constructed of local materials -- wood and stone, and in keeping with the general aim of the TVA project, were designed to be "all electric," the first all electric houses in the United States. The homes were similar, but not all alike, since residents had their choice of 12 different house designs. All of the houses were very functional, practical, and durable, and have lasted these many years, even to 2009.

Morgan, the social planner, envisioned cooperative industries, run by the town's citizens -- poultry raising, canneries, creameries, and the like.

The public school was to be the hub of the community, as well as a learning center, offering classes for children, adults, and farmers from surrounding communities.

Despite Morgan's good intentions, Norris did not develop the way he had hoped. Instead, it became a TVA Company town. The TVA owned almost everything in the town, including the town's garage, gas station, and cafeteria. There were very few individually owned, or cooperative businesses.

In one area of social planning, Norris, Tennessee was not forward-looking. Originally, in keeping with the area's customs of 1933, Norris was a segregated community, and blacks were banned from renting homes in Norris, despite repeated complaints from the NAACP about the TVA's discrimination in their hiring, housing, and training of blacks, who made up a sizeable percent of the area's population in 1933.

When the dam was completed the workers left, and white-collar employees of the TVA moved in, seeing rural Norris as an attractive alternative to city living. A few years later the entire town of Norris, Tenn., was sold to a private real estate developer, who soon after sold individual homes to their residents. Norris became officially incorporated in 1949, and today the original town, of 340 buildings and 40,000 acres of land, is registered in the category of "Historical District" by the National Register of Historic places.

Today Norris is still a small, functional, and comfortable community of about 1,400 residents -- the size of Plainview. It is an interesting little town, and a great place to live. But it is hardly the self-sustaining, independent, economic hub community that the planners envisioned in 1933. Instead, it functions primarily as a bedroom community. Most of the residents work in nearby Knoxville, or Oak Ridge. There is one small grocery store, and a café in the Norris "downtown." There is an elementary school and a middle school, but high school students are bussed to the Anderson County High School.

In 2009, encouraged by a grant of $10,000 from the TVA (to design a modern "Sustainable Design Home," then transport the model of the home, along with its designers to the Washington Expo), a Tennessee University team designed the "New Norris Home."

It uses "green" building materials, and other sustainable design elements, such as -- It is designed to take advantage of natural ventilation, winter sunlight, and summer shade. It features a solar powered water heater, a high efficiency heat pump, a system for collecting and storing rain water, and an on site system for treating "gray" water.

Like the 1933 homes, the 2009 home uses local materials, plus it complies with all of the U.S. Green Building Council's 2009 recommendations. Also, like the 1933 Norris home, the new home is designed to be integrated into the community, using pedestrian paths to connect the home with service centers, which provide for shopping, recreation, public gatherings, and cultural performances. Hopefully, this Sustainable Designed New "Norris Home" will emulate its 1933 ancestor and will prove to be comfortable and functional for its residents over the next 75 years.

-- Source: Norris, Tenn., Web site, TVA Today, Norris Tennessee, The Planned Community.