Hidden in the lush woods of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a once-abandoned resort town known as Elkmont is full of 100-year-old cabins.
I visited in the spring of 2023 and was amazed to find that the cabins preserved and restored by the National Park Service were open for public viewing.
When I made plans to visit the historic district, I expected to wander outside cabins and see their facades, so I was excited to find I could step inside them for a more intimate look at what life was like 100 years ago.
Elkmont Historic District is in a valley on the northern border of the park, just south of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
I traveled to the town by taxi. Drivers can take the US-411 from Gatlinburg and turn at the “Elkmont Campground” sign, according to Visit My Smokies, a tourism site run by Sevier County. From there, take a left at the sign that says “Elkmont Nature Trail.”
When I arrived in Elkmont, I learned about the land’s rich history through on-site information provided by the NPS.
According to the site’s historical markers, the land was used for farming in the 1800s. Then, in the 20th century, a railroad was built, bringing loggers and tourists to the area. This led to the establishment of a resort town known as Daisy Town.
About 100 years ago, wealthy Tennessee travelers took the train to the resort community to escape hot summers in cities and find “harmony with nature,” according to the same source.
Families spent their summers relaxing on the porches of their vacation homes and playing outdoors, one NPS marker said.
The resort town diminished after the National Park Service bought the land in 1934.
Residents had the option of selling their cabins for full price or at half price with a lifetime lease, according to Visit My Smokies.
By the late 20th century, the once-booming resort community was a ghost town.
In 1992, the NPS stopped renewing leases, and the abandoned cabins began to deteriorate.
In 2009, the NPS announced plans to preserve Elkmont’s historic buildings.
Volunteers removed trees, repaired roofs and ceilings, and added insulation to the cabins, Knox News reported.
During my visit, I explored the insides of all the cabins lining the pedestrian street.
There are 16 of them.
The oldest cabin in town was built in 1830 and then moved in 1932 to serve as a guest house in the resort community, according to NPS on-site information.
The one-story building stood out to me because it looked older than the rest, with a distressed, unpainted wooden facade.
Inside, there was a single, large room with nothing but a stone fireplace.
I thought the weathered, empty home felt eerie.
In fact, all the cabins were free of furniture.
Still, I thought details like built-in kitchen counters and cabinets gave them a sense of a past life.
Looking out the windows of these historic cabins, I thought about what it would have been like to vacation here a century ago.
I pictured waking up to natural views with no agenda. It seemed like the ideal getaway for city dwellers like me.
On my way out of Elkmont, I noticed a handful of families wandering the street. This made me think that the site is no longer the ghost town it once was.
I left Elkmont with a sense of what the once-abandoned resort community was like and felt grateful to the preservation crew for making it possible for me to visit.
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