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Great Smoky Mountains National Park | Highlights | Historical Information | >>Detailed Information about Elkmont

Elkmont is located on a flat valley at the junction of Little River and Jakes Creek. Surrounded by steep ridges, the valley is shadowed by Meigs Mountain to the west and Sugarland Mountain to the east. To the south is Blanket Mountain and Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the Smokies lay just beyond. A former logging community, Elkmont is named for the elk who inhabitated the area years ago. Elk are slowly being released back into the area. After the trees were harvested, the logging community turned into a vacation resort, and was home to the Wonderland Hotel, which was put on the national register of historic places in 1994, along with several of the nearby rustic cottages.

 

Some of the more affluent citizens of Knoxville held summer cottages in Elkmont, one of these people was Willis P. Davis. After a visit to Yellowstone in 1920, Willis Davis began to suggest the idea of a national park in the area. Davis's idea was heard by David C. Chapman, who put the idea into motion, lobbying along with business owners who saw the potential of a national park.

 

Though Elkmont was home to the original national park movement, it was also home to the largest of the anti-park movements. Spearheaded by Jim Wright, an attourney for the Little River Logging Company, Wright and other businessmen preferred the Smokies become a national forest, through which a railroad could run, increasing the value of the land. Because of this, the legislature to turn the Smokies into a National Park exempted Elkmont, allowing the owners of their cottages to obtain life time leases on their homes.

 

A majority of the leases expired between 1992 and 2001, at which time ownership changed to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, when the buildings were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

In 2005, the largest of these buildings, the Wonderland Hotel, collapsed due to structural failure and was cleared, with exception of parts that were deemed historic, which were removed. Only a chimney fall and the annex remain. In 2009 plans were announced to restore the historic clubhouse, as well as 18 of the remaining cottages to their previous state. The remainder of these buildings will be documented and carefully removed and placed outside the park.

In 2010 the National Park Service took on a restoration project to restore 19 structures in Elkmont. This was a compromise between the conservationists who wanted to take the land back to its natural state before the logging companies, and the preservationists who wanted as many of the buildings restored as possible.  There are a total of 74 buildings remaining of the summer resort communities that developed first as housing for the Little River Lumber Company employees and their families in the 1900’s.  19 of these will be preserved if not restored completely, with the Appalachian Clubhouse first on the list. Most of the old cabins in the Daisy Town section where the Appalachian Clubhouse is located will be saved in the restoration project. Most will serve as static displays with no access to the interior. 

The Appalachian Clubhouse was the first building to be fully restored  and was completed in June, 2011. The clubhouse was restored from the ground up with the crumbling foundation repaired and strengthened. They even brought in wood cut from Douglas Fir trees, just like the original clubhouse. The wood floors were restored, the original screens remain on the porch and there are more than a dozen windows that were either restored or rebuilt. Gas logs were installed in the two stone fireplaces and with no central air or heat only ceiling fans.  The original kitchen will be used as a historic display with the original sink, oil-skin covered work space and wood shelving are still in place.

You can now rent out the clubhouse through 8pm for $400 Monday – Thursday and $600 for Friday – Sunday. The clubhouse will accommodate up to 96 people and will be open for rentals from April 1 – November 15. It will be closed during the two weeks in June for the synchronous fireflies. More information on renting can be found on the National Park website. www.nps.gov/grsm