“Inside Elkmont: The Abandoned Great Smoky Mountains Resort Town Where the Wealthy Vacation” — what this page in the network covers. Tucked inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Elkmont Historic District was once a thriving resort community for wealthy Knoxville families and later a logging town. By the late 20th century, it had become a ghost town, with dozens of empty cabins slowly decaying in the forest. Today, 16 of those historic cabins have been preserved and restored, offering a rare glimpse into early 20th-century mountain leisure culture.
The National Park Service now manages the site, which includes the Appalachian Clubhouse and other structures that date to the 1910s and 1920s. Visitors can walk among the restored homes and imagine an era when prominent families escaped the summer heat by train, arriving to dance, hike, and socialize in the cool highlands. This listing links straight to the original page, where the content is available in full.