I found an abandoned neighborhood and hotel in the Tennessee mountains (Video)

[jordanliles]

IMG_7372.jpg

About a mile up an unnamed gravel road inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the back way into an abandoned neighborhood and hotel, some of which was originally constructed more than 100 years ago. In the fully edited film below, Tennessee Wonderland, I explore the houses and the remains of what was once referred to as the Wonderland Club. I've applied color correction, balanced audio levels, cut everything down to the essentials without sacrificing interesting moments and most importantly, I made sure to place importance on including a proper ending.

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfaTpunhJRs

More cool Tennessee mountain stuff including a photo album: http://www.jordanliles.com

Enjoy!

[Bronk]

Thanks for posting that...I find exploring these kinds of places interesting. One of my favorite places on the trail was exploring the old Sarver Hollow homestead. May I ask if this is actually on NPS property or if it is NFS or BLM? The reason I ask is that I've explored several sites such as this, mostly old homestead farms, houses and barns, and almost always there is signage posted on the outside of the buildings warning people not to enter, most likely for liability reasons...and they are very similar to what is in your video, mostly falling apart. At one site there is some kind of farm implement with a tree growing right up through the middle of it, and based on the size of the tree it is 30+ years old.

Given my above statements about warning signs on the structures I find it odd that they put up informational bulletin boards about the place. I've explored similar campgrounds along rivers that have similar remains but have no such information...in fact, like your stairway, if you didn't know what to look for or how to find them you'd never know they were there. How did you find this place?

I also find it very interesting that these facilities were up and running as late as the early 1990s, only about 20 years ago. I guess time takes its toll faster than I would have imagined, though most of these were probably in poor repair prior to being abandoned, and if these were leased properties I'm sure the 'owners' felt loath to put money into maintenance knowing their leases were soon to expire.

[Mrs Baggins]

I am in tears. The last 5 minutes of that.....the "before" and "now" shots....heart-rending for the passage of time and what it has done. Those were brand new homes at one time. There were families that were so very excited about their "mountain" houses, brand spanking new and filled with laughter and meals and memories. And no one left to remember. Thank you for this, for letting it all "live" a little again.

[HooKooDooKu]

Can't see the video at the moment... but it sounds like we're talking about Elkmont.

With the exception of a hike that took me along Little River Trail, I haven't explored the area much myself. But as best as I can tell using Google Earth, I would say the buildings look to be some of the ones either along Jakes Creek Road, Jakes Creek Trail, or a side trail off of these.

[Train Wreck]

The Listeners

"Is there anybody there?" said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grass
Of the forest's ferny floor;
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller's head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
"Is there anybody there?" he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller's call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
'Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:--
"Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word," he said.
Never the least stir made the listeners,
Though every word he spake
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone.



- Walter de la Mare

[RCBear]

wow. the last 5 mins or so is pretty powerful. nice job. beautiful area.

[jordanliles]

@Bronk - Sure, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I haven't visited the old Sarver Hollow homestead, but I might check it out. Sounds cool.

I do believe that the Wonderland Hotel is on NPS property. I didn't see any signage regarding not entering the buildings until the end, but of course I made it my top priority to respect the grounds. Just about all of the shots are from the outside looking in, and my mission with this video is to show history. There are two signs giving a full history of the area, so I believe it's encouraged for people to visit the area. It's a historic site, and a very cool one at that. What a wonderful place it must have been while open. I had done a bit of research online about the area before going there, so I hope that helps answer your questions about how I knew about the stairway.

As for the condition of the buildings, I found that all but six of the home owners had passed away by the late 1980s. I did some research and found that perhaps only 1-2 of those people are still alive today, though I can't be sure. Some of the homes are still standing and aren't too bad structurally, but I wasn't about to go around exploring all the rooms or anything like that. Too many possibilities for an accident. One thing I was very glad about was that no one has managed to spray graffiti all over the buildings. I think it's because this place is slightly hidden from the road.

@Mrs Baggins - I'm sorry to hear it saddened you, but I can tell it was in a good way. Did you visit the area in the past? I searched for more old photographs but couldn't find any of people living in the homes or anything like that. There is a bit about the area in the book "Last Train to Elkmont". Your description of what it must have been like back then was my thinking and inspiration for making the video. They were very nice and I always enjoyed interacting with them, including at the "store" at the Elkmont campground where they sell goods.

@HooKooDooKu - Near Elkmont, but not the row of homes near the campground. It's an area up on a hill, hidden by trees, all near a ranger station. I think I accidentally refer to them as police in the video.

@Train Wreck - Very nice.

[da fungo]

Can't view the video at the moment (restricted bandwidth at the library I'm at), but some of the discussion above reminds me of the situation with regard to property condemned by BLM for what was supposed to be the Tocks Island Reservoir, and fortunately became the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. A major difference, though, is that about as soon as BLM took title to the properties in NJ and PA, they dispossessed the owners and tore down almost all of the structures. I think that there had been significant learning on the part of both the Government and the property owners, who were nearly violently opposed to the condemnation, from previous examples like various TVA projects and quite likely GSMNP. The property owners had learned to vocally and vociferously object to the expropriation of their property and really their lifestyles; the Government had learned that having no structures left to return to the property owners tended to reduce opposition of the project once the bulldozing was done.

The best preserved, most moving ghost town I've seen is Bodie, CA, which is preserved as a State Park now. It's very distinctive - a few years ago, I was walking through the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA, and saw a black and white photo exhibition. The photographer was really surprised when I identified a couple of photos as taken in Bodie.

So, not to hijack the thread, back to Tennessee.

[Odd Man Out]

I too was interested and did some web surfing. Interesting stuff. Here is the map (long slow download)

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/showFile...ondition%2Epdf

or try these web pages

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document...cumentID=26126
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectH...rojectID=15794

[jordanliles]

I too was interested and did some web surfing. Interesting stuff. Here is the map (long slow download)

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/showFile...ondition%2Epdf

or try these web pages

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document...cumentID=26126
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectH...rojectID=15794

Ah wow, so the house I explored right before the hotel annex was the servants quarters. Interesting.

[atmilkman]

Thanks for posting. That was a really neat step back in time.

[jordanliles]

Thanks for posting. That was a really neat step back in time.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm trying to get it out to as many Smoky Mountain hiking fans as I can. It's somewhat near the Jake's Creek trail, but hidden, so some people might not even know they passed it.

[TNhiker]

the wonderland hotel sat more near the road.....

there's a pulloff there and a concrete stairway that leads up to the site...

the hotel itself was torn down about 5 years ago, because it was in such disrepair......

along with those other links, here's some info...

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/parkmgmt/upl...n-Jan-2010.pdf


about ten years ago, they had a series of public meetings about what to do with the elkmont area........it was quite feisty to say the least..

as a result of the meetings---the appalachian club and one other cabin got restored..........

[jordanliles]

the wonderland hotel sat more near the road.....

there's a pulloff there and a concrete stairway that leads up to the site...

the hotel itself was torn down about 5 years ago, because it was in such disrepair......

along with those other links, here's some info...

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/parkmgmt/upl...n-Jan-2010.pdf


about ten years ago, they had a series of public meetings about what to do with the elkmont area........it was quite feisty to say the least..

as a result of the meetings---the appalachian club and one other cabin got restored..........

Very cool link. Thanks. Yeah, I chose to enter the back way to lead up to the hotel annex. Makes for a better ending to the video. I saw that The Appalachian Club building looks great today. Too bad restoring the Wonderland Hotel wasn't financially viable.

[TNhiker]

i didnt watch all the video, but i think the road you parked on led to the elkmont cemetery......

should be right before the road ends to the left....

at the road end, if one follows the roadbed, and i think there's power lines there, you'll pop out on the road just west of laurel falls parking lot....

one place to see that is in disrepair (and see it soon as its gotten worse) is the old maintainers cabin up at high rocks....

[TNhiker]

oh......and i'm guessing you've seen the avent cabin that is in the elkmont area as well....

[jordanliles]

oh......and i'm guessing you've seen the avent cabin that is in the elkmont area as well....

Yes indeed. So many cool cabins in the area. I don't remember the name, but there's one on Jake's Creek Trail that you have to go down a hill, across a footbridge and up a path to reach. It's before Jake's Creek Falls.

Also if you have time, I suggest you watch the last 4 mins or so beginning at 18:08. That's about where the exploration ends and the before/after photo comparisons begin:
http://youtu.be/zfaTpunhJRs?t=18m8s

Hope you like it!

[jordanliles]

Also, sorry to post two replies in a row but I thought it might be good to explain that I didn't include the cemetery or the more well known row of Elkmont homes as I didn't have video/photos that I thought were good enough, plus I wanted to concentrate more on Wonderland. There are so many amazing areas in the entire park. I'd love it if I had time to one day put together several seasons of hourlong episodes exploring various trails and abandoned places in the park, but that would require a ton of planning, money and hard work. It could even air on tv and be on the web in Tennessee and North Carolina. Let's call it a dream for now!

[TNhiker]

that seems to describe the route to the avent cabin.....

[jordanliles]

that seems to describe the route to the avent cabin.....

Ah ok cool. Yeah, on my hike to Jake's Creek Falls I didn't see it until I was on my way back. It was almost dark out. The sun had gone. Only the blue haze of light was left. I saw the back of a wooden sign coming up. I looked on the other side, and it pointed down a hill. The trail didn't look like other trails. It wasn't as clean as some others, but I followed it believing the sign. Crossed the footbridge. Went up the hill to the right. And there it was. Pretty cool to see so late in the evening!