Foothills Parkway - The History of The Parkway

The History of The Parkway

The Foothills of the Great Smokies were drawing tourists as early as the mid-19th century. Most visitors during this period came for the area's mineral-rich mountain springs, which were thought to have health-restoring qualities. Resort hotels quickly sprang up throughout the Foothills, becoming popular summer-time destinations for Knoxville's upper class. The most successful of these resorts were Montvale Springs and Alleghany Springs at the base of Chilhowee Mountain, Kinzel Springs in Tuckaleechee, Line Springs in Wears Valley, and Carson Springs near Newport.

Just before the Civil War, author Sidney Lanier spent several summers at Montvale Springs. The Chilhowee Mountain area would be a major influence on the setting for his first novel, Tiger Lilies. In 1885, Mary Noailles Murfree, one of the first authors to popularize the natural wonders of the Smokies, wrote:

"... Chilhowee Mountain, rising up, massive and splendid, against the west. The shadows of the clouds flecked the pure and perfect blue of the sunny slopes with a dusky motling of purple."

The original plan for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park included much of the Foothills within the proposed park boundaries, although by the time the park opened in 1934, the boundary had been moved south of Townsend and Wears Valley.