Left With the Shadows
by Marcy Wielfaert
Title
Left With the Shadows
Artist
Marcy Wielfaert
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Elkmont is a historic mining community in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The Little River Lumber Company established the town in 1908 as a base for its logging operations in the upper Little River and Jakes Creek areas. By 1910, the company began selling plots of land to hunting and fishing enthusiasts from Knoxville, who established the "Appalachian Club" just south of the logging town. In 1912, a resort hotel, the Wonderland Park Hotel, was constructed on a hill overlooking Elkmont. A group of Knoxville businessmen purchased the Wonderland in 1919 and established the "Wonderland Club." Over the next two decades, the Appalachian Club and Wonderland Club evolved into elite vacation areas where East Tennessee's wealthy could gather and socialize. In the 1930's when the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established, the cottage and land owners were all granted lifetime leases on their properties, but as the park grew over the years, the leases were converted to 20 years with renewal options. In 1994, the park refused to renew the leases and the area was taken over and put under complete control of the park system. Things rapidly deteriorated and finally resulted in the tearing down of most of the structures. Sadly, today not much remains of this historical site, and Elkmont is often referred to as the "ghost town" of the Smokies. I visited the site before the demolition and took several pictures, including this one in a corner of what used to be the kitchen or a resort cottage. Dirt, shadows, and memories are all that remains.
Uploaded
February 18th, 2021
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