Community Guide - Elkmont
Knoxville, Tennessee - Real Estate Guide

Story of Elkmont community one worth telling

The real beginning of the Elkmont community in the Smokies began in 1900 and came to an end in 2002, but the story will not go untold.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has decided it wants to save 18 of the 74 vacant buildings and turn them into a museum with exhibits that interpret the Elkmont story from its days as a logging camp through its history as a summer resort in Sevier County.

"This is a story that hasn't been well told in the park," said park spokesman Bob Miller. "The historical story we tell here is the hearty pioneers arrive and carve out a living."

The Elkmont story may not be told in the park yet, but stories of summer fishing, hunting, dancing and sitting in the rocking chairs at the Wonderland Hotel are deeply rooted in Knoxville lore.

It all began in 1900 when under the direction of Col. W.B. Townsend the Little River Lumber Co. was founded to log the Little River drainage. The company constructed a large sawmill at Townsend and a rail line, the Little River Railroad Co.

The lumberman built the town of Elkmont — a collection of their homes, a general store, post office, boarding house, school, church and theater.
The rail line transported more than just lumber in the early years. Knoxville businessmen began to take the 2-hour train ride to the mountains to hunt and fish.

In 1910 the lumber company deeded the Appalachian Club, a sportsman's club of Knoxville businessmen, 50 acres along Jakes Creek, upstream from Elkmont.

As families began to make the trip, the club centered more on social activities and members built cabins Their names are Knoxville's history: Ashe, Brownlow, Carringer, Galyon, Ijams, Mayo, Spence and Townsend.

"The story of the club is part of the story," Miller said, noting the Appalachian Clubhouse is slated for restoration and will be made available for public rental and day-use events. "This wasn't just a scatter of individual families. There was a club structure, organization that social life revolved around."

As interest in the area grew, C.B. Carter and his two brothers built their own exclusive membership club in 1912. The Wonderland Club eventually opened its hotel to the public.

At both locations, people stayed in cabins and dined at the clubhouse. Recreation included hiking, picnicking, horseback riding, outdoor games like horseshoes and badminton, and formal and informal dances.

The enthusiasm that led to the growth of the Appalachian and Wonderland clubs was one of the forces behind the movement to create the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In 1923 the Great Smoky Mountains Conservation Association was formed. In 1926 Congress passed a law authorizing the creation of two national parks in the Appalachians, which spurred conflicts between residents of Elkmont and the government.

In 1932, faced with political opposition, particularly by members of the Appalachian Club, Congress consented to a plan in which the landowners would be offered long-term leases.

Cottage owners were offered roughly half the value for the buildings and lots in exchange for lifetime leases. Then in 1972 the Park Service asked those lifetime owners to take 20-year lease agreements. Some families were able to negotiate 30-year leases.

A 1982 plan by the park called for the removal of all the Elkmont structures when the leases expired, but in 1993 67 of the 86 Elkmont structures were placed on the National Register of Historic Places and in 2000 a decision was made to begin a new planning process.

By 2002 all the family leases has run out and the cottages have been vacant since. Now they will be renewed — not to their former use, but as a way to tell the story that has been lost.

"We wanted something that told people this was a community," Miller said. "This balances the opportunity for natural resources and allows us to save part of the community."

Sevier County
. Population (2000 Census): 71,170
. Founded: 1794; named after Tennessee's first governor and former congressman John Sevier.
. County seat: Sevierville, population 11,835; eighth-oldest town in Tennessee.

Other cities / towns
• Gatlinburg - Population 3,413; main entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; named for businessman Radford Gatlin, who was later run out of town for his pro-Confederacy views.

. Pigeon Forge - Population 5,068, incorporated in 1961; named after iron forge built in 1820 and the flocks of pigeons that fed along the Pigeon River.

. Pittman Center - Population 478. Incorporated in 1974, partly as a way to block annexation by fast-growing Gatlinburg; named after Dr. Eli Pittman.

. Seymour - Population 9,002.

. Attractions:
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Dollywood amusement park
Tennessee Smokies minor league baseball team
Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies