Special Collections Lecture Series

Appalachian Removals and Relocations:
Removals for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Smoky Mountain Resident Tuesday, April 10
"Goodbye to the Old Home Place:
Removals by the National Park Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority"

Bruce Wheeler, UT history professor emeritus

Creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park began in 1923 when a group of Knoxvillians organized a massive campaign to create interest in a local park. The campaign had its desired effect: citizens, local politicians, and even President Calvin Coolidge were soon enamored of the idea. Unlike other national parks, however, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park could not be created from land already owned by the federal government. Instead, North Carolina and Tennessee had to purchase 423,000 acres from the some 6,000 people and companies inside the boundaries of the proposed park and then turn the land over to the federal government.

This process proved to be complicated and expensive. Many families had lived within park boundaries for generations, some since Cherokee removal, and were reluctant to leave. Lumber companies were loath to abandon a prosperous business. The federal government eventually interceded, taking all five major timber companies to court in order to claim the land and granting people living within the park boundaries lifetime occupancy rights.

President Franklin Roosevelt formally dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on September 2, 1940. Removal of the Smokies residents and companies led to a sometimes-uneven balance of conservation and tourism.