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- [S84] E-Mail, Myrel Huskey [myrelhuskey@yahoo.com], 12 May 2008.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 14 Feb 2015.
Upland Chronicles: Wonderland Hotel served Smoky Mountains visitors
CARROLL MCMAHAN
Rocking chairs face Blanket Mountain on the porch of the Wonderland Hotel.
The Wonderland Hotel opened its doors in 1911 and closed in 1992.
The lobby of the Wonderland Hotel as it appeared during the final days of operation.
On Nov. 15, 1992, the Wonderland Hotel at Elkmont closed its doors for the last time. Although the storied old hostelry had seen better days, the closing of the white clapboard building with a sagging wraparound porch marked the end of era, a time when men in summer suits smoked cigars on the veranda, ladies in long cotton dresses fanned themselves in rocking chairs, and children raced to the nearby swimming holes.
In 1909 the Little River Lumber Company, owned by Col. Wilson B. Townsend, built a logging railroad from Walland to the company town of Elkmont. Connecting to a branch line of the Southern Railroad, the Little River Railroad Company began to promote Elkmont as a good hunting and fishing area, and to transport men who wanted to visit for that purpose, via a two-hour ride from Knoxville.
When the area was logged out, Townsend, aware of the benefits of attracting large numbers of tourists, gave Charles B. Carter 50 acres of cut-over land with the stipulation that he build on the property within a year. Carter formed the Wonderland Club Company, and on June 11, 1912, the Wonderland Hotel opened for business.
In the seven years that the Wonderland Club was open to the public, so many men came to Elkmont that the more affluent decided that they wanted their own facility and formed the Appalachian Club. They purchased a large tract of land from Little River Lumber Company, and the families built cabins and a clubhouse on the property.
The Appalachian Club became so popular that it was soon turning away prospective members. In 1919, a group of men who could not gain access to the Appalachian Club formed their own association, and rather than build their own hotel, they purchased the Wonderland Hotel. The name was changed to the Wonderland Club Hotel.
The hotel was owned jointly by members of the new association, and they closed the doors to all but association members and their guests. About a year later, a number of members of the club desired more privacy than the hotel could provide, and an annex was built on the west side, offering additional guest rooms.
The annex remained private until the hotel closed for the last time under the provisions of the lease with the National Park Service. Both the Appalachian Club and the Wonderland Hotel managed to maintain a concession by virtue of leases authorized by Congress when the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established.
The railroad tracks were removed in 1925, when the logging of the area was complete and the Little River Railroad began losing money on the passenger line. The two clubs combined their political muscle to get a primitive road built along the old rail bed.
In 1952, the remaining members of the Appalachian Club traded their lifetime lease for a 20-year renewable lease. When that lease expired in 1972, the members of the Wonderland Club joined with the Appalachian Club to form the Elkmont Preservation Association, which received a new 20-year lease. Under the terms of the lease, the Elkmont Preservation Association retained the right to operate the Wonderland Hotel, with the right to lease it to a third party. Darrell Huskey of Wear’s Valley was the last manager.
Built from local materials, including large chestnuts boards harvested nearby, the Wonderland Hotel was a two-story structure. The steps to the hotel originally started at the railroad tracks and went to the top of the hill where the hotel sat. River rocks cemented into the top of the stairs spelled out “Wonderland.”
The hotel had 26 guest rooms, and no two were the same. Most had a private bathroom. An inviting porch wide enough for swings and rocking chairs provided a picturesque view of Blanket Mountain. Since there were no phones, radios or televisions in the guest rooms, most visitors chose to spend their evenings relaxing in the lobby or on the porch.
The lobby included a large, brick, double-faced fireplace surrounded by comfortable chairs. Several wooden chairs and tables were provided for playing games or writing postcards. A favorite feature was a large bulletin board on the back wall, near the rear doors leading to the parking lot. Guests were encouraged to pin a photo from their visits to the hotel.
On most weekend evenings during the operating season, special events, such as an old-fashioned sing-along or square dance, were held in the large first-floor ballroom.
A fireplace with a split-log mantle provided warmth amid the cool mountain air in the dining room, where home-cooked meals were served. In the early days, meals served family style were included in the price of a room, which could be rented by the day, week, month, or three-month season, for 75 cents per meal for adults, 50 cents for children.
Three years after the hotel closed, a section was destroyed by fire. In 2005, the remnants of the neglected structure collapsed, and the National Park Service awarded a $65,419 contract to Moran Construction Company of Abingdon, Va., to dismantle the remains of the main building. Some of the doors, windows, claw-foot bath tubs and other artifacts were placed in the park’s archival storage facility.
Carroll McMahan is special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce and serves as Sevier County historian.
The Upland Chronicles series celebrates the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for future topics, would like to submit a column or have comments, contact Carroll McMahan at 453-6411 or cmcmahan@scoc.org; or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or ron@ronraderproperties.com.
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
HUSKEY, RALPH P HEADRICK, MAXINE 1952-05-17
- [S149] The Official Marriage Records of Sevier County Tennessee 1972 - 1981, Volume IV, Smoky Mountain Historical Society, (Copyright 2008), ISBN 1-890150-00-6.
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