Abandoned Daisy Town

How long will it take before the junkies take over.

Haha, that's a good question. I've seen some places that are a mess with crap like that. This place is now owned by the U.S. government. It's located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is on the registry of historic places and maintained by the Parks Commission.

I'd say there have been a few that have tried to stay overnight a time or two, but it's really hard to get by the park rangers. This area is pretty remote as well, maybe too far from their dealers to be a good option.

fascinating...

i looked for a little more info:

[link to en.m.wikipedia.org (secure)]

The thing that strikes me as odd is the lifetime lease deal being recinded and then these same structures going on the historic list but allowed to decay.

It's a shame. Some of that shiplap alone is prime $$ these days.

Hi Bright Side!

This place is total irony. The members of the Appalachian Club, the ones who built this place, were very rich and politically powerful. They are the same ones who pushed hard for the National Park to come in. They led the movement to push the people out of surrounding communities, including Cades Cove, using the National Park as the reason for forced eviction.

The irony is that the very same Parks Commission they pushed for is the one that wouldn't renew their leases and forced them to abandon their properties.

OP - amy details about the fires in 2016 and 2017?

[link to en.m.wikipedia.org (secure)]

I'm a little torn about the National Parks system. To me it's a good idea but poorly managed and rife with corruption.

I just don't see how delapidation, decay and a loss of history is preservation. Either preserve it or destroy it.

Given it's history I wonder if it was perhaps the bohemian grove of the losing side?

ha. That would be interesting.

here's more on the hotel

[link to en.m.wikipedia.org (secure)]

odd they seemed to "know" they had to remove items to preserve.

The Wonderland collapsed from structural damage a while back and there was a section left.

The section that was left-over had a bad fire that completely destroyed it. I have a buddy who is a park ranger and he says it really is a mystery. They didn't find any evidence of squatters or people throwing a party and accidentally burning it down. They guess it may be the result of a lightning strike, but there is no sign of where the lightning initially hit at and there were no thunderstorms in the area when it burned.

He told me this several months ago, so maybe something has changed by now. I'm gonna check out the site when I get back up there in a few weeks, but they won't let you get very close anymore. Maybe I can talk him into going with me and getting a better view.

edit:

That is a good wiki link, thanks. It's a really cool history of how this place was built and what happened to it over the years.

Last Edited by Tir on 05/20/2017 01:14 PM

Thanks ToolMan!

Last Edited by Tir on 05/20/2017 01:21 PM

I agree about the Parks Commission. On one hand I love the park and visiting there. It's very nice. On the other hand, there was a lot of shady stuff that went on to create the park itself. No telling how much money was funneled through the system illegally, or if at all.

That is exactly the feeling I get walking through the place. I can't help but think they were some sort of secret society there. It was very exclusive and most everyone who applied for membership was denied.

There is a part in the video that shows one of the old cabins being remodeled. The rangers working on the cabin said they are going to do all of them, but it will take years and years. He said they just don't have the money to do more than one at a time and they do a lot of the work themselves.

edit: I meant to mention that there were several of the old places that were too far gone to restore or even maintain. They tore several of them down. They had planned on either tearing them all down or just letting them be reclaimed by nature. That was stopped when they were put on the historic registry.

Last Edited by Tir on 05/20/2017 01:26 PM

Looks like a horror film movie set.
When does the guy in the hockey mask jump out with a machete?

Hi UCE!

I hadn't planned on adding any music to the video, but when I played it back later I noticed that my mic was making a bad noise. I thought about putting some spooky music in there.

This place is pretty creepy around dusk when there is no one there, or when there is a storm coming through.

I'm really kind of surprised no one has tried to make a movie here. It would be the perfect place for a campy horror flick, imo.

I saw the part about the remodel but this is part of the flaw of the NPS. Turn the remodel over to a private foundation and allow them the leverage they need (be it rentals, tours, weddings etc) to accomplish the task. Fact is the federal government just isn't as good at this task as the private sector would be.

I enjoy our national parks immensely but the fact, contrary to perception, is human nature is prone to misuse what they feel they own or have a right to mishandle (think rental cars). I have seen some things at national parks that are just a travesty to all that is good and decent, Of course some is due to overcrowding because so little of these vast areas are actually accessible to the public because of budget constraints but most of it is just shitty humanity given "free" access (nominal entrance fees).

I was first horrified by the thought of buses at Zion but I think they've struck a good balance. Now if they could add some additional far hike portage, they'd be onto something. The last time I was at SMNP it took me 4 hours to get from from Gatlinburg to Cherokee it was so overcrowded. That was not enjoyable or good for the environment...

I'm sad to hear about Elkmont. It would seem to me that is is a viable solution to adding an area of intetest that could ease the burden on the main areas of the park. It is stupid to let it go further into decay, perhaps irretrievable decay, before they get to it. Like I said, some of the elements I saw in the video are worth a pretty penny.l

Last Edited by Bright Side on 05/20/2017 01:54 PM

I agree with all of that. Seeing 2 people working on the remodel let me know it wasn't going to get done any time soon.

I'm glad there isn't an entrance fee into the park, but I wouldn't oppose it if I thought it would help deter tourists from chucking their McD's cup out the window as they drive through, or if it would fund the cleanup.

I work in Gatlinburg. About 15 years ago I had to make a run down to Pigeon Forge and then back to Gatlinburg. It was Thanksgiving weekend. I made it down to PF in about 45 minutes, then sat in traffic for several hours trying to get back into Gatlinburg. There are backroads, but where I was going I couldn't really use any. Crazy how crowded it gets.

Townsend isn't far from Gatlinburg at all. I'm really surprised that it is not nearly as crowded. Then again, a lot of the people that visit never really even go into the mountains. They go to the malls and shops downtown and maybe a quick drive through the area. I like visiting the park from the Townsend side because there are very few people and it's easy to get around.

There is definitely a lot of value in a place like Elkmont, whether it is the actual materials the buildings are made of or what the place could be used for. A place like that could go a long way in drawing many people across the mountain. They'd probably have a better time than just visiting malls and eating at the same places they can eat at in their hometown.