Abandoned Ghost Town In The Smokies - Elkmont

Elkmont Ghost Town is for all my urban explorers out there. It is a small abandoned town in Tennessee, that started as a logging community, turned into a resort/vacation community only to become abandoned.

What Is Elkmont?

Elkmont has roots extending to about 8,000 years ago in 1840 but the first settlers we know of were in the 19th century. The Elkmont community was primarily a logging community during the 19th and into the 20th century. There were many different trees found in this area that produced different types of wood. They were cut down and sent to Knoxville TN to be processed and shipped all over the country. In 1905-1907 (those dates are a little cloudy) The Little River Lumber Company was established by W.B. Townsend and so was the town of Elkmont TN.

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Elkmont was booming with the logging industry at an all-time high and newly built tracks into Knoxville, Elkmont has just about everything except a community. Talk of Elkmont and its beauty spread and the train bringing logs to Knoxville came back with tourists each time. Businessmen of The Little River Company were seeing the potential for growth in Elkmont and started selling land to the Appalachian Club in 1910. Then in 1912, another 65 acres were sold to an entrepreneur that created the Wonderland Club.

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The Appalachian Club and Wonderland Club were both known as resort clubs in the area. Individual cabins (some still standing today) were built along with large gathering areas. You could see some of the finest musicians here and enjoy some sunning and swimming in the river that was dammed up. This town was a booming and popular town until things started to slow down during World War II.

What Happened To The Town Of Elkmont?

In 1932, the land surrounding Elkmont and the clubs were officially preserved as part of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The bill that created the park exempted Elkmont from being seized under eminent domain. Many of the citizens still decided to either sell their property to the government or work out leases. The Wonderland Club acted as a normal hotel for a while in 1992 when it closed its doors for good. The Appalachian Club actually closed a lot earlier, in the 1950's it ended all clubhouse activities and events. The last citizen of the Elkmont community was in 2001 and then the community became abandoned for good.

What You Can Find In Elkmont Today?

You will find a good number of individual cabins and the Appalachian Clubhouse still standing, Luckily, the National Registry of Historic Places decided to add the clubs to their registry in 1994 or everything would have been demolished and there would be nothing left to explore. The National Park Service is in the process of trying to preserve as many of the buildings as they can. When you visit Elkmont Ghost Town you will be able to walk through cabins that are in better shape and not completely collapsing. You will see the beauty of the woods around the area and why the area has such a draw to people. You will also be able to see the Appalachian clubhouse (steps to clubhouse pictured below), you won't be able to go inside but you can look in through windows. Unfortunately, the Wonderland Clubhouse is in ruins as it was collapsing in on itself before the preservation went into effect. At the time we visited it looked as though they might have been doing renovations to preserve it for possible events to be held in.

Why Is Elkmont A Ghost Town?

While the town is not haunted (that we know of) and while we didn't feel any paranormal activity while we were there, this is a ghost town. A ghost town is classified as a boomtown that was nearly deserted or abandoned leaving visible remains - in this case the cabins and the Appalachian Clubhouse. The abandoned cabins are a little on the creepy side and some of the things seen in each cabin are a little eerie, I don't think you have to worry too much about real ghosts being around (sorry to disappoint some of you). You will however feel like you have been transported back in time when seeing some of the relics left behind.

If you are looking for something to do in the Tennessee area and love to be outside exploring then Elkmont Ghost Town is the perfect spot for you. When inside The Great Smoky Mountain National Park make sure to follow the signs to Elkmont - you will first come to a campground. Then you will find a parking area and after that, you are free to take your time to walk around, explore and take photos.

Read more: Our Surprise Hike At Abrams Falls

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