Last updated: April 18, 2026
- Type: Town
- 2020 population: ~1,000
- Named for: New Hope Church, a local antebellum congregation
New Hope sits on the south side of a U-shaped bend of the Tennessee River, downstream from Nickajack Dam, directly across Nickajack Lake from South Pittsburg. Its location places it within some of Marion County's most storied geography, the former Cherokee Lower Towns, Nickajack Cave, and the rapids once feared by river travelers as "The Suck."
Pre-contact and Cherokee era
The area around modern New Hope was part of the Cherokee Lower Towns homeland. Nickajack Cave, across Nickajack Lake from New Hope, served as a shelter for native peoples for hundreds of years, and the Cherokee town of Nickajack sat between the cave and the river. Both Nickajack and the nearby town of Running Water were destroyed in the Nickajack Expedition of 1794. Read more about Nickajack and Running Water →
Settlement and farming
European-American settlers took up land along the river bottoms and adjacent hollows in the 19th century. New Hope grew around a local church of the same name, as was common in the region, and served as a small agricultural community.
The river transformed
The character of New Hope's river frontage was transformed in the 20th century by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Hales Bar Dam (1913) and then Nickajack Dam (1967) turned the once-difficult stretch of the Tennessee River Gorge into placid Nickajack Lake. New Hope sits on that lake today, and its identity has become closely tied to lake-centered recreation, fishing, boating, and lakeside homes.
Modern era
New Hope incorporated as a town to preserve local governance and services. It remains a quiet community, closely linked socially and economically to South Pittsburg (visible across the water) and Jasper.
Landmarks and nearby features
- Nickajack Lake shoreline
- TVA observation platform for viewing the seasonal emergence of gray bats from Nickajack Cave (across the lake)
- Tennessee River Gorge scenery