1895
1895: The Biltmore House, opens near Asheville. The concept helps to spur the development of numerous spa/hotels in the foothills of Western North Carolina.
> www.Biltmore.com
> Pre-Park Tourism
> Asheville as a Health Retreat
1900
1900s: Logging and lumber companies, such as Champion Fibre Company in North Carolina, built railroads, camp towns and timber camps, large log ponds and saw mills in areas like Townsend, Proctor, Smokemont and Elkmont.
> Doogaloo
1909
June 30, 1909: Little River Lumber Company's Shay #3 wrecked just above Elkmont at the mouth of Jake's Creek. Engineer Gordon "Daddy" Bryson and Brakeman Charles Jenkins were killed.
1911
1911: The Wonderland Hotel was completed at Elkmont. Regular passenger train
and excursion service was available from Knoxville.
1923
1923: National Park Service Director Stephen Mather voices his support for creation of a national park in the East.
>Stephen Mather
1925
1925: Park proponents in North Carolina and Tennessee join forces and create the Appalachian National Park Association.
> Park Movement
1925: Clarence Darrow takes a break from the Scopes “Monkey” Trial in Dayton, TN to visit the area.
1926
1926: Congress passes a bill calling for creation of national parks in the Blue Ridge of Virginia and Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.
1926: Governor Austin Peay, of TN, signs a contract purchasing 76,507 acres owned by the Little River Logging Company. This will be the first land purchased for inclusion in the park area.
> Logging in the Smokies
> Elkmont
> Little River Railroad
1927
1927: John D. Rockefeller Jr. pledges $5 million for land acquisition from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund. The money will only be made available when the two states can raise enough funds to match the donation.
1929
1929: The Chestnut Blight, a non-native parasite from Asia, has made its way to the Smokies and wreaks havoc on the large population of chestnuts living there. This changes the ecosystem greatly, effecting the people, wildlife and other plant life in the park drastically.
> What’s Killing The Trees?
1929: The stock market crashes marking the beginning of the nation’s decline into Depression. This makes raising funds for the proposed park area more difficult.
June 29, 1929: John W. Oliver, resident of Cades Cove, receives the first notice that his property will be included in the newly created Great Smoky Mountains National Park.