history – Smokies Guide

Three Rivers Rambler

The Three Rivers Rambler is a train excursion that runs along to the Tennessee River. This 90 minute train ride starts from the waterfront near downtown Knoxville and takes you on a ride through the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. You will pass a lot of the history that has formed not only Knoxville but parts of the country as well. The end of the trip is a visit to the Three Rivers Trestle. The Rambler runs on selected weekends and has become a huge draw for the Neyland Drive area of Knoxville,

The Trains

Depending on when you decide to take a ride on the Rambler, you might be pulled by Lindy – the 1925 steam engine or the slightly older 1890 steam engine that they are unveiling in the summer of 2012. There are also times that they use diesel engines to pull the coach cars. These give you an entirely different feel to your train ride as the power of the diesel engines pulls you down the track. While you are onboard the Rambler, you will be sitting in one of the two coach cars that date back to 1932. The various cars of the train are connected and allow you to roam to the open air section fo the train or to the merchandise cars where they sell soft drinks and water; this is also where the restrooms are located.

The Trip

The 90 minute ride on the Rambler takes you from the waterfront on Neyland Drive past downtown through the foothills of the Smokies and past lush pastoral landscapes and lots of history. As you progress north from the boarding station, you will pass the farmlands that were the first settlements in the area, quarries that actually supplied some of the stone that helped to build Washington DC and many other points of interest. While you travel along, feel free to ask questions of the staff members on board. They are very knowledgeable and they have been asked your questions before. They know the route and will be glad to share their knowledge with you.

The Trestle

The highlight of the trip is a visit to the Three Rivers Trestle. The Rambler takes you to the point where the Tennessee River really begins. The French Broad, after winding its way out of the mountains, and the Holston combine to form the Tennessee River. The Tennessee then continues on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. You actually get to see the point where this new river, the Tennessee, is formed. A highlight that lets you see a stretch of river that powers homes, moves the economy along and of course provides hours of recreation.

The Three Rivers Rambler offers a different way to experience the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. You can sit back and enjoy the hour and a half ride through the outskirts of Knoxville, TN while you learn about the history of the city, the area and the country. You also get to view the start of the one of the largest waterways in our country. Try the Three Rivers Rambler out as a day trip the next time you visit the Smokies.

Three Rivers Rambler
2560 University Commons Way
Knoxville, TN 37919
865-524-9411

Franklin Gem and Mineral Museum

If you are interested in the lapidary arts you might want to take a ride into Franklin, NC and visit the Franklin Gem and Mineral Museum. Due to the history of the area, it is no wonder that a museum has been established to show off the gems and the mining industry that brought Franklin to life. Inside you are going to find not only information on the history of the area but examples of the gems that they found in the mountains. Of course, the fact that the museum is housed in the old jail house means that you are walking into history as you learn about history.

Drive around downtown Franklin and you are going to see typical, small town USA downtown. This downtown has been revitalized in the past with the influx of tourism dollars into the area and especially into Franklin itself. Look up and down the narrow streets, take in the beauty of what Franklin looked like at the turn of the century. On Phillips Street you will see the old jail house. If you find the jailhouse, you have found the Franklin Gem and Mineral Museum. They have been in this location since 1974 and they are not only celebrating their love of all things gem mining but they are also keeping up the Old Macon County Jail.

The Franklin Gem and Mineral Society started in 1971. The rockhounds of the area had a close kinship from many hours spent digging for gems in the mountains. It was no wonder that informal get-togethers turned into monthly meetings. In fact, by 1972 there were almost 175 people on the roles of the club. In 1972 they also opened the museum. This museum was a growing collection of the lapidary dreams of the rockhounds of Macon County. With the move into the jailhouse, they were able to expand the collection and improve on the exhibits. The club stills hosts this free museum and it is one of the highlights of any visit to downtown Franklin, NC.

Stepping though the door of the Franklin Gem and Mineral Museum brings into the world of rocks, gems and fossils. From the North Carolina Room that focuses on those minerals and rocks pulled from the local mountains. You can also cool those minerals and gems pulled from around the world in the World Room. There are also rooms dedicated to fossils, artifacts and much more. Learn about the industry that caused the founding of Franklin. The Franklin Gem and Mineral Museum celebrates that industry it is a great way to spend the afternoon.

Franklin Gem and Mineral Museum
25 Phillips St
Franklin, NC
828-369-7831

Kermit Hunter

Kermit Hunter is a well known American playwright. But, he is also known in the history of the Smokies due to the fact that he wrote Unto These Hills, the second longest running outdoor drama in the US and one of the highlights to any visit to Cherokee, NC. He also wrote the outdoor drama, Horn in the West which is performed each season in Boone, NC.

Kermit Hunter was born in West Virginia. After a time in the US Army in World War II, he went on to manage the North Carolina Symphony. Over time, working with various theatrical companies, Hunter went on to his graduate studies program in Dramatic Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While he was there several of his plays would be produced by the Carolina Playmaker’s. At this same time, the city of Cherokee started to look for someone to write a dramatic interpretation of the Cherokee people to be performed at an outdoor site in Cherokee.

Hunter jumped on this project and began to transform the information and the vision of the Cherokee Historical Association into a script and then into a production. Hunters draft won the submission contest and his most famous play, Unto These Hills was first performed in 1950. Though the play has been changed over the years and the current version has little resemblance to the original Kermit Hunter play it is still his vision that put this outdoor drama on the map. Hunter parlayed the success with Unto These Hills into scripting the play that would be performed by the Cherokee nation in Oklahoma until the mid-90s – The Trail of Tears.

Hunter’s other legacy is the play Horn in the West which is performed in Boone, NC during season each year. This play tells the story of the people that founded the city of Boone and the Western north Carolina mountains. Horn of the West features such American heroes as Daniel Boone and the story of a very dramatic and at times tragic time in American history. This outdoor drama, while not as long running as Unto These Hills is still a part of the history and cultural scene in the Smokies.

In all, Kermit Hunter wrote more then 40 historical plays. He is still known for his work in the Smokies and the people that are performing those works today in the same theaters and venues owe the tales the tell to Kermit Hunter.

Harrisburg Covered Bridge

There has been a covered bridge in the Harrisburg Community of Sevier County since the mid 1800s. The bridge was used by the locals to cross the East Prong of the Little Pigeon River and connected the two separate parts of the community.

Originally, the Harrisburg Covered Bridge was named the McNutts Bridge but in 1875, the bridge was washed away during a storm and was completely destroyed. Later that same year, a Sevier County Court established a committee to oversee the construction of a replacement bridge. $50 was raised privately and $25 was donated by the county. The people of the Harrisburg community donated all of the lumber that was needed and the labor. The people of Harrisburg built the bridge and made sure they would be able to get back and forth to town easily and that they would be able to further grow their part of the county.

While other covered bridges around the country were being torn down, the people of Sevier County kept the Harrisburg Covered Bridge up and going. IN the 1950s, the bridge was renovated, but by the 1970s the bridge had fallen into disrepair and was nearing the end of its life. At this point in the bridges history, the Great Smokies Chapter and the Daughters of the American Revolution raised the money to keep the bridge up and to make sure that it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, you can still go visit the Harrisburg Bridge, take some pictures and drive through a bridge that has been around since 1875. The bridge is 83 feet long, 14 feet wide and has 11-1/2 feet of clearance. A true wonder of not only architecture but also of a people that wanted to keep their history alive. Pencil the Harrisburg Covered Bridge into your next trip to the Smokies. Drive a a little out of the way. Head down Dolly Parton Parkway and follow it to Old State Highway 35. Once you turn left on 35, follow the signs, the bridge is just a few miles down the road. Get out and take some pictures and spend some time in real, living history.

Fort Loudon State Park

Fort Loudon was built during the French and Indian War in hopes that it would act as a bridge between the people of South Carolina and the Cherokee. Now, the fort is a state park and historic site that offers plenty of amenities to the people that visit the park throughout the year and it is also a place of living history where people from all over the country can come and learn about the French and Indian War and that time period in history.

Fort Loudon was built by the British Colony of South Carolina in 1756. It was named for the Earl of Loudon and the people of South Carolina hoped that it would strengthen the ties between the Cherokee people and South Carolina during the French and Indian War. Though that bond was beneficial to begin with the talks with the Cherokee broke down and on August 7, 1760, the fort fell. The Cherokee razed the area to the ground and the site was forgotten for years. In fact it was not until 1917 that a memorial marker was established in the place that was once the site of Fort Loudon.

In modern times, you can visit a Fort Loudon that has been rebuilt to what it might have been like in its heyday. You get to experience the time period and through living history you get to talk to the people that worked the fort. The reenactors and volunteers make this an amazing visit for people of all ages. They not only appear in the clothes that the people of the 18^th century would have worn but they are conversant on the topic so f the day, showing crafts and skills that the people of the garrison and the communities around the fort would have possessed. If you are really interested in that time period then you might want to plan your visit to the historic site for one of the Garrison Weekends that they have throughout the year. On those weekends, they have crafters and vendors come in with 18^th century materials and they also have a mock battle between the British from the fort and the French and Indians that would raid the fort sometimes on a daily basis.

Of course, this is also a state park so there is plenty to do here besides learn about the fort. You can also play in the beautiful countryside that is East Tennessee. Most of the Fort Loudon State Park is located on an island in Tellico Lake. A boat dock, picnic areas and trails are only a few things that you will find to do. The access to Tellico lake is one of the highlights and the fishing could not be better. They even have a fishing pier that is fully handicapped accessible.

Get out in the open, spend some time outdoors. Bring the kids to the fort and let them learn about history in a whole new way. Explore the fort, do some hiking and get closer to history. Experience Fort Loudon Historic State Park.

History of Highlands, NC

The town of Highlands was founded in 1875 by two developers living in Kansas who, according to legend, took a map in hand and drew a line from New York to New Orleans. Then they drew another line from Chicago to Savannah. These lines, they predicted, would become major trade routes in the future, and where they crossed would some day be a great population center. Their logic wasn’t completely insane when one recognizes that we are just over 120 miles from Atlanta.

What evolved was a health and summer resort at more than 4,000 feet on the highest crest of the Western North Carolina plateau in the Southern Appalachian mountains. This paradisal settlement, the highest incorporated town east of the Rockies, provided common ground for both northern and southern pioneers a decade after the Civil war. By 1883, nearly 300 immigrants from the eastern states were calling Highlands home. In the early 1880’s the town contained 8 country stores specializing in groceries, hardware, and general merchandise, a post office, a hotel and boarding house for summer guests, a public library, four churches, and a first class school.

Very little changed until the late 1920’s, when the Cullasaja River was dammed, forming Lake Sequoyah, to provide hydroelectric power. A spectacularly scenic road to Franklin was carved into the rock walls of the Cullasaja Gorge. The muddy roads in and out of town were reinforced with crushed stone. By the time the Chamber of Commerce was established in 1931, the town?s population had increased to 500 with 2,500 to 3,000 summer guests. There were now 25 businesses.

Again, very little changed until the mid 1970’s, when the influx of multi-family homes and shopping centers spawned land use plans and zoning laws intended to protect Highlands‘ natural assets.The town’s population stands at slightly over 1,100 year round residents with 3,200 on the plateau.

Since its creation in 1875, the demographic mixture of Highlands has been remarkably unique. Founded by hardy pioneers from all over the nation, sober industrious tradesmen from the north, Scotch-Irish laborers and craftsmen from the surrounding mountains and valleys, and wealthy aristocratic planters and professionals from the south, the town has served as a cultural center for well-known artists, musicians, actors, authors, photographers, scholars, and scientists who have thrived in its natural setting.

The result is a town too cosmopolitan to be provincial, too broadly based to be singular in attitude and prospective, too enamored of its natural surroundings to be totally indifferent to them, and just isolated enough and small enough to be anxious about the benefits and setbacks of growth and development.

History of Townsend, TN

The origins of Townsend, Tn can be traced back, like many area towns and cities, to the Cherokee Indian tribes that roamed the Smoky Mountain region and used them as hunting grounds before the first English settlers stepped foot here in the 1700s.

The Little River Valley and the surrounding tributary streams were called Tuckaleechee Cove at the advent of the 20^th Century. Tuckaleechee actually means “peaceful valley” and was the name given to the region by the Cherokee. It remained a “peaceful valley” for over a century. Farming in the valley made up the primary livelihood of its residents with commercial lumbering seeing a 40-year boom in between. When the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in 1934, the area re-emerged as “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies”.

The Little River Lumber Company was founded in 1900 by Wilson B. Townsend and a group of fellow Pennsylvanians who had initially built the business in order to supply tanbark for a tannery located at Walland, Tn just down the road. With the purchase of nearly 80,000 acres of land, they now found themselves the proprietors of what would eventually be a large portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Traversing the region’s rugged terrain and moving the logs to the mill meant establishing some mode of transportation, thus they established the Little River Railroad Company to do just that. The railroad and the lumber company’s headquarters were located in the small village of Townsend. From here, track was laid and run deep into the Great Smoky Mountains. Each worker employed by the company, their equipment, and tools were hauled in and logs back out by the famous Shay locomotives – smaller, yet very powerful steam engines which were constructed for hauling and traveling up steep slopes such as the ones found in the Smokies.

With so much economic productivity coming out of the area, one would have thought that business would have continued to expand, and it did, but in ways you wouldn’t expect. The Smoky Mountains’ majestic vistas and views were bringing in a number of visitors that the railroad was providing easy access to. Elkmont, once a logging camp, evolved into tourist hotels to accommodate the influx of visitors. As logging activities lessened and the railroad tracks were removed, the rail beds provided the beginnings of roadways and trails into the Smoky Mountains. One example is Little River Road; it runs from Townsend all along the Little River to Sugarlands visitor’s center in Gatlinburg. Today’s Little River Road was originally the rail bed of the Little River Railroad.

By the mid-1930s, W.B. Townsend had sold most of the land he originally purchased for the railroad to the state of Tennessee. This sale provided land for the National Park Service to turn into a large portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Townsend became a primary gateway for national park visitors due to its proximity to Cades Cove and the relative closeness to the Little River, which by then had also been adopted into the national park. The park’s other main entrances – Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Cherokee, North Carolina have seen its share of development with welcome centers, businesses, and other attractions springing up, most providing travel opportunities primarily unrelated to the Great Smoky Mountains and its majestic splendor, which draw thousands of visitors yearly. Unlike the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge outlets, Townsend has kept its moniker as “The Peaceful Side of the Smokies” intact. It’s still viewed as a more picturesque, natural destination for those who trip to take in the overwhelming beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains.

History of Maggie Valley, NC

Maggie Valley, NC takes its name from a mountain girl with long blond hair and blue eyes who once called the area her home. Maggie’s true life story is recorded in Maggie of Maggie Valley, NC, a book written by her daughter Patty Pylant Kosier. You’ll not only find a true account of Maggie Mae Setzer Pylant’s life but mountain life as well. At that time, Maggie’s home was part of an isolated wilderness settlement.

On December 21, 1890, ten years after Maggie was born, her father, Jack Setzer began tossing the idea around of the formation of a post office. More so, Setzer wanted a post office to be built in his own home. The nearest post office, the Plott post office, was located five miles from his home and someone had to be paid in those days to take and pick up mail for the valley. Soon thereafter, Setzer was contacting officials with the US postal department in order to get permission to establish a new post office in his home that all the people of the valley could use.

For the next six months he was instructed to provide the service that was needed in the area. He also kept careful records during the time. The post office made up a corner of Setzer’s room – a wooden box used to file incoming letters and newspaper.

Jack submitted his records to the U.S. post office department after six months and they accepted his application asking him to submit community names to the postal service. Setzer’s first three submissions were rejected because they we already being used for other post offices in North Carolina. Following that, he submitted the names of his daughters Cora, Mettie and Maggie Mae plus the name Jonathan Creek, the creek which ran through the Setzer’s home. He kept it from his daughters that he had submitted their names.

On May 10, 1904, Jack received an official letter from the US Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock that the post office authorities had made their decision. The official name of the mountain settlement post office was to be Maggie, NC. Maggie was embarrassed when she was told the news. She burst into tears and ran up the mountain to the old log cabin where she had been born. At the age of 17, Maggie became the bride of Ira Pylant of Nashville, TN. They moved to Texas, but she came back to her beloved valley several times before her death in 1979 at the age of 88.

Gem Mining

The gem mining industry in North Carolina has been a part of that culture for decades. When the first settlers came to the Smokies to put down roots, they discovered that the soil of the mountains contained precious and semi-precious stones. All of a sudden, the economy in these quiet mountain towns changed. People came to the mountains look for what they hoped would be the next gold rush in the country’s history. And while they found some wealth and they did mine gems from the mountains, the gold rush they were hoping for never really took off.

In modern times, the land that once housed big operations that mined the hillsides, is now a tourist mecca. And the people that still own that mine land, have decided to give those visitors to the Smokies the chance to try their hands at finding that treasure in the Smokies. You can pan for gold, sift in a sluice for gems and in some cases even go dig the dirt out of the mountain face itself.

Jackson Hole Gem Mine – Highlands – This roadside attraction on the road between Franklin and Highlands, has been attracting visitors for a long time. With the promise of hot boiled peanuts on the marquee outside, you get to sit under a covered area that contains the sluice or the water trough that you use to mine gems. The earth that you sift through has both native and enriched gemstone sin it. Experts are on hand to help you see what you have found.

Cherokee Ruby & Sapphire Mine – Franklin – The Cherokee Ruby and & Sapphire Mine tries to keep it ‘real.’ If you are looking for an outdoor activity this is the place to go. The natural stream that feeds the water flume keeps the water nice and chilly as it runs downhill. The dirt you are sifting through is full of naturally occurring gems, some of which are of facet quality.

Smoky Mountain Gold & Ruby Mine – Cherokee – In downtown Cherokee you can not only mine for gem stones but also pan for gold. If your children are learning about the gold rush, there is no better way to spark their interest in history then by letting them get their hands dirty. And at the Smoky Mountain Gold & Ruby mine you are guaranteed a find!

Elkmont

Elkmont is located between Sugarlands Visitors Center and the Townsend Wye in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. If you are coming from the Sugarlands end of the park then you will travel about 4.9 miles to the turn off to Elkmont which will be on the left as you head toward Cades Cove. If you are coming in from Townsend, you will travel 12.7 miles from the Wye to the turn off into Elkmont which will be on right hand side of the road.

Elkmont started out as a lumber area in the Smokies. The Little River Lumber Company started logging this area in the early 20th century. They put in a railroad system from Townsend to Elkmont to get the lumber out of the area and to get the lumber jacks into the Smokies. As the forest were cleared, the lumber company started to pull out of the area and the people of Knoxville and Maryville decided to make excursions into the Elkmont area for their summer vacations.

Elkmont quickly became a vacation spot for the uppercrust of society. The built home sin the area and came back year after year. The location of Elkmont along the river, the climate during the warmer summer weather and the feeling of being up in the mountains made this area popular enough that in 1912 Charles Carter built the Wonderland Hotel on a hill overlooking Elkmont. This inn became the ‘in’ place for visitors to stay when they wanted to get away to the mountains.

In the 1930s, the vacation spot of the Smokies begin to change. As the land was being purchased for the establishment of the National Park, the section known as Elkmont was chosen to be included. The people that owned the vacation homes and the owners of the Wonderland Hotel were, needless to say unhappy with the loss of their property. Even though they were going to paid for the land that was being claimed by the US government, they didn’t want to leave the area. They were provided with life-time leases and though they lasted for a long time, even the Wonderland Hotel closed in 1992. The homes and the hotel were both left and have continued to decay without upkeep. Elkmont, the vacation area, have become a ghost town in the Smokies.

Elkmont is one of the best places to see the effect that the Smoky Mountains had on the people that lived around it. It was an economic source of prosperity to the logging industry, a place to vacation for the elite in the surrounding towns and part of America’s most visited national park. Now, it has a campground and is the site of the synchronous firefly phenomenon that occurs each spring. Hiking trails that wind around the ghost town area and one of the older cabins in the Smokies give you a two very unique looks back into history. Add to that a great place to trout fish and you are looking at plenty of outdoor activities and lots of fun.