Pre 1900's - 1920's | 1930's |1940's |1950's |1960's | 1970's |1980's |1990's | 2000's

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Although many of the histories written about this area focus on the park as the first real movement towards bringing tourism to the towns within and surrounding the Smokies, the truth is tourism did not begin with the creation of the park. The towns and cities surrounding the park such as Asheville, Knoxville, Gatlinburg and Bryson City do look quite a bit different than they did in the 20s (doesn’t everything?) but there were still tourists that visited these places for other reasons.

One of the most popular places for East Tennesseans to visit inside what would become the park area was the Elkmont community. Primarily a logging town, built by the Little River Logging Company, Elkmont also had hotels like the Wonderland resort offering guests not only lodging, but meals, music and recreation, all in the cool crisp air of the mountains.

This idea of full service resort/hotels was common outside of the park as well. Some of the most popular on the TN side of the mountain developed around mineral springs. Springs resorts were located along a popular route from Bristol, VA to the Knoxville area that was known as the “Valley of the Springs”. These resorts such as Montvale and Whittle Springs brought in both couples and families that might just stay a night, but many stayed for whole seasons to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere, and the mineral waters thought to possess curative qualities.

Tourism to the Asheville, NC area was focused a bit differently in some cases. Resorts spread throughout Asheville and continuing farther a field to towns like Waynesville, Hendersonville, Highlands, and Lake Junaluska offered similar amenities like music, food, and recreation such as swimming and tennis. Many people visited resorts like the famous Grove Park Inn for the comfort they provided, but also because of their proximity to famous natural features in the area. Places that are still popular today such as Lake Lure, Grandfather Mountain, Mt. Mitchel, Mt. Pisgah, Chimney Rock and Linville Gorge, were attractions to the area even in the early 20th century.