Photographs courtesy of the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park Service
As mentioned previously, the
original idea for a Smokies national park came in 1923. Actual
fund-raising began in 1925. A bill to authorize and protect the
area as a park was passed in 1926, but came with strict stipulations
that a minimum of 300,000 acres be acquired and minimum commitments
in funds be obtained. North Carolina supporters, who had held
out for a national park strictly in North Carolina, finally came
around for a shared border to a park and their legislature appropriated
$2 million in 1927--but only if Tennessee matched it. Not to be
outdone, Tennessee's legislature appropriated $2 million the same
year.
When
it became clear that the funds appropriated and subscribed to
that point was not nearly enough, Arno Cammerer of the National
Park Service and Colonel David C. Chapman of Knoxville, convinced
John D. Rockefeller Jr. (picture, left) to make a gift to ensure
the success of the effort. The philanthropic Rockefeller family
was known to be sympathetic to national park causes (having contributed
to the success of others) made a gift of $5 million to the effort,
but only on the stipulation that it would be matching funds. To
get the full $5 million, the states and park commission would
have to come up with $5 million of their own.
With funds committed, 1929 was
spent trying to get landowners to sell. This was a daunting task,
because even though timber companies were the largest landowners,
there were many other owners with very small tracts to obtain-over
6,000 in all. Many were descendants of original settlers, some
simply loved their homes and didn't want to move under any circumstances,
and a few were big business interests such as the Little River
Lumber Company and the Champion Fiber Company (the single largest
owner) who held out for as much as they could. So in 1930, condemnation
suits began. States had the right to "condemn" property
for higher use. It wasn't until 1931 that the Champion suit was
settled. The Little River Lumber Company would settle too, but
continued cutting timber for 7 more years. In June 1931 the Park's
first superintendent (Major J. Ross Eakin) and rangers reported
for duty. The purchase of smaller tracts of land continued through
1932 (and would not be completed until 1939). In 1935, Franklin
D. Roosevelt allotted more than $1.5 more based on new estimates
of funds required to purchase lands. In 1936, the minimum number
of acres was acquired to officially qualify for park development.
Finally, 17 years after the initial idea, the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park was dedicated at Newfound Gap, which sits on the
borders of Tennessee and North Carolina. Half on each state's
boundary, a plaque memorializing the Rockefeller Foundation gift
was placed-a memorial to the single most important financial accomplishment
in developing the Park.
Next
