Daisy Town, Elkmont Historic District, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Category: Parks

Tags: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Great Smoky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, national park, national parks, Tennessee, USA, United States, abandoned, #RealImaginaryLife, #RealImaginarySmokies

In 1910, Colonel Wilson B. Townsend sold land to an affluent group of Knoxville hunting and fishing enthusiasts who created the Appalachian Club. After the Appalachian Clubhouse was built, several members built cabins nearby in what became Daisy Town. Some members of the Appalachian Club started the movement to create a national park in the Great Smoky Mountains, which became a reality in 1937. Due to political maneuvering by those who desired to create a national forest rather than a national park, many cabin owners in Elkmont were allowed to obtain lifetime leases. The last of these leases expired in 2001, and all of the buildings in Elkmont would have been slated for demolition were it not for some leaseholders' descendants getting Elkmont placed on the National Register of Historic Places. This caused a 15-year debate that finally resulted in the preservation of most of Daisy Town and two other structures further up the mountain.