TVA chairman Arthur Morgan envisioned Norris as a model of cooperative, egalitarian living.

[7] During the 1930s, TVA officials excluded black families from the city, effectively making it a sundown town, purportedly to conform to the customs and traditions of the area.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) complained repeatedly (in 1934, 1935 and 1938) about racial discrimination by the TVA in the hiring, housing and training of blacks.

It was purchased for $2.1 million ($26,631,025 in 2023 dollars [11]) by a Philadelphia investment group headed by Henry D. Epstein, which then sold individual homes to their residents.

The Museum of Appalachia, founded by John Rice Irwin,[14] is a popular attraction in Norris.

Norris is located in northern Anderson County at 36°11′58″N 84°4′9″W / 36.19944°N 84.06917°W / 36.19944; -84.06917 (36.199515, −84.069077),[15] on a set of hills south of the Clinch River.

Interstate 75 passes 2 miles (3 km) to the southwest of the city, with access via Tennessee State Route 61 from Exit 122.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.2 square miles (18.6 km2), all of it land.

The government of Norris is vested in a five-member city council, with a mayor and vice-mayor being selected among that group.

As of July 27, 2023, the current mayor of Norris is Chris Mitchell and the vice-mayor is Chuck Nicholson.

The original city hall was located in the Norris Community Building, along with the town library and the multi-purpose auditorium/gymnasium on Ridgeway Drive until 1978, when it was destroyed by a fire.

The facility on Chestnut Drive was reconstructed and continues to serve as a City Office and Community Building.