When the weather gets that bad, we stay home. This year, in spite of our numerous "snow events", we were able to go to the mountain for my birthday weekend. We came up on Thursday and, as luck would have it, it snowed off and on all day, but it was just flurries with no serious accumulation at our elevation. By Friday the sun came out and we could see what Mother Nature dumped on Mount LeConte!
By Saturday we were ready to hit the trail. You see, it never gets too cold to hike! So we bundled up and off we went to hike Cove Mountain Trail. As the day wore on we kept coming out of hats and scarves and gloves. I think the temperature reached 48 degrees so it was not a bad day for a hike.
After a crisp day on the trail we love eating at Old Dad's in Gatlinburg. They have great sandwiches and really good loaded Baked Potato Soup!
When we got up on Sunday morning, the sun was shining and the temperature was already 41 degrees and going up. The high reached 67! A friend once told me that there are only a handful of days in the year when the weather is absolutely perfect. Well, Sunday was one of them! We hiked in shorts! We explored Meigs Mountain Trail in the Elkmont area of the park. It was a good day to have lunch on a log.
On the way out of Elkmont we decided to look for the site of the old Wonderland Hotel. We drove down the road to the camping area and saw the sign.
Okay - time out for a history lesson. Back in the late 1800's before there was a Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a man from Pennyslvania by the name of Colonel Townsend bought 10,000 acres of land (Elkmont) for the purpose of logging. Up until that time, logging in the area was rather difficult. Trees were cut by hand and dragged (by sled) to the river and floated downstream. This didn't work very well during dry seasons and with all the twists and turns and rocks in the river.... Well, it was a hard way to make a living. But Colonel Townsend had a different idea. He decided to carry the logs out by train. His lumber mill (Little River Lumber Company) was located in the town now known as Townsend, TN (duh!) His railroad used to be located on what is now Little River Road. So he bought his 10,000 acres and set up a logging camp at what is now the Elkmont Campgrounds. It was a little city complete with 2-room hotel and post office for the logging employees. His tracks used to run up what is now known as Little River Trail. As the land was cleared, more tracks were added and the crew cut their way from Elkmont all the way to Clingman's Dome.
Well, Colonel Townsend had friends in Knoxville that liked to ride the train and come over to Elkmont with him occasionally because the hunting and fishing were great! Since the Colonel was quite a businessman he knew a good opportunity when he saw it. The logging crew used the railroad six days a week so on Sunday's the good Colonel sold tickets and used the railroad to transport rich businessmen (who loved hunting and fishing) from Knoxville to Elkmont. It was known as the Elkmont Express, not because there were elk in the area (there wasn't), but because these rich businessmen were members of the Knoxville Elk Lodge. Eventually, they approached Townsend about selling them some of his land so they could build a hunting lodge there. So, Townsend sold them about 50 acres that he had finished logging to build The Appalachian Club. It has been damaged and refurbished over the years but it is still standing and is used for weddings and meetings and such today. (Eventually a lot of these men built "summer homes" there. One section of homes was known as Millionaire's Row.) It was quite an exclusive club. Word got out that there was fun to be had and money to be made so some brothers named Carter approached Townsend about purchasing some land and he agreed to give them some land if they promised to build a hotel within a year. They built The Wonderland Park Hotel in 1912. It was open to the general public until 1915 when it was sold to some other Knoxville businessmen who "hadn't made the cut" for the exclusive Appalachian Club and wanted their own private club. Apparently it was very popular because an even bigger annex was added in 1925. Once the park was formed in the 1930's all properties were deeded to the park, but their owners retained lifetime leases. So the Wonderland Hotel Club remained open until 1992. Sadly, the hotel was damaged by fire in 1995, collapsed in 2005, and was demolished in 2006.
Now!
I knew it was destroyed by fire and assumed there was nothing left to see, but recently I heard someone talking about the hotel site so we decided to go exploring.
We found the old stone steps that you can see in the previous photo. I can't imagine getting off the train and hauling my luggage up those steps!
We also saw the pit that used to hold the fountain in that old photo.
But here is where it gets sad.
The old building you see here is the annex that was added in 1925. The hotel used to sit in the foreground. The only thing left standing is a pile of bricks (lower right corner) that used to be the fireplace and those steps (looks like a rock wall on the left side) that used to connect the annex to the hotel.
The Annex
A peek inside the annex. This photo was taken through the opening. I didn't go inside. It's not safe. No trespassing!
As I mentioned before, once the park was formed the owners deeded their properties over to the park but retained lifetime leases. All the owners are gone now and the park controls all the buildings. Some of the homes are being restored and preserved, but most of them are abandoned and falling down. It's heartbreaking to see those broken windows, sagging porches and collapsed roofs. Nowadays, Elkmont is often referred to as the Smoky Mountain "Ghost Town".
One last tidbit of information - Back in the day, the only way to get to Elkmont was by taking the train. When Colonel Townsend finished logging in the area he needed his railroad crew and equipment elsewhere to log some newly aquired land. He knew the locals wouldn't be happy about it so he moved the railroad operation lock, stock, and barrel in the dead of night! It was there one day and then it wasn't! Needless to say the summer home owners were not pleased! Fortunately, then Governor Austin Peay was a member of the Appalachian Club and a road was built rather quickly!
Anyway, if you come to the Smokies, Elkmont is well worth a visit.
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