Great Smoky Mountains Natl. Park — Groups have been working to preserve several buildings in Elkmont. After working to make sure those historical buildings are available for people in the Great Smoky Mountains, 16 buildings are now open to the public.
They range from cabins to churches and are located in a community known as "Daisy Town." More buildings are also going through preservation work, and groups behind the effort said they should be open soon.
"We are charged to protect and preserve American history for the future generation, so it's not lost," said Dana Soehn, the executive director of Friends of the Smokies. "This is one special way through the Friends Forever program that we can protect pieces of the history in a way that can tell the total story of how it was in the mountains years ago."
One of the cabins was the summer home of a leader who advocated for the Great Smoky Mountains to become a national park — David Chapman.
The preservation project cost around $9 million and will show visitors how Elkmont looked around a century ago — when it was a small community with families of visitors, farmers, and when large-scale logging first started changing Elkmont's landscape.
Groups debated what the future of Elkmont would look like for years, and now the future is here.
"Now, after 14 years, we are finally going to see the completion of this historic district," said Soehn.
While work is completed to preserve the Elkmony buildings, visitors can explore the area on foot and hike the Jakes Creek and Little River trails, leading visitors past the stone walls and chimney that mark other former locations of cabins in Elkmont.