Learn Townsend history while hiking, biking

By Iva Butler
of The Daily Times Staff

Visitors and locals interested in the history of Townsend are increasingly taking advantage of the hiking and biking trail that runs 10 miles through the heart of Townsend.

When U.S. 321 was widened in 1999 the trail was built in the road right of way and has been turned into an interactive lesson about earlier days in the rural mountain community now called the Peaceful Side of the Smokies.

"Shadows of the Past," a brochure highlighting historically significant places along the trail, is available at Townsend Visitors Center where the "path through history" begins.

Hundred of years of human habitation are highlighted by markers along the trail, of both the Native Americans and European settlers that called, and many still call, Tuckaleechee Cove home.

A University of Tennessee archaeological study, which was required to build the road, revealed seasonal habitation by Woodland Indians 4,000 to 9,000 years ago and winter and summer Cherokee homes in villages constructed in the late 1600s.

The Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center erected five story boards on sites that explain the Native American occupation and the work of the archaeologists.

The center, located along the trail, promotes the history and culture of the Native American and early European settlers in the cove.

Another wave of settlers were Revolutionary War veterans granted land following the war.

A huge impact on the town was the lumbering and railroad industry.

One stop along the trail is the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum. The first company mill began operation in 1901, burned in 1905 and was immediately rebuilt. Fifty-seven varieties of hardwood were marketed by Little River in the early years of operation, according to "The History of Blount County" by the late Townsend native and teacher Inez Burns.

The company acquired 100,000 acres along Little River, which allowed them to operate on a large scale for 40 years. After the timber was depleted in the late 1920s, about 77,000 acres became part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the 1930s.

The mill in Townsend officially closed in 1938, according to Burns's book.

Col. W.B. Townsend, for whom the city was named in 1902, was the managing president of the corporation.

The museum, founded as a non-profit in 1982, collects and preserves rail engines and equipment once used by loggers hauling timber out of what is now the Smokies.

The last Shay Engine (No. 2147) to haul lumber for the company is on display at the museum.

Swinging bridge

Another focal point is the Dark Island Swinging Bridge, which was used heavily in the early 1900s as access between cottages on one side with the railroad or lumber mills on the other.

There has been talk of expanding the trail to include the communities of Kinzel Springs and Sunshine, located on the north end of the cove. There was a Kinzel Springs Hotel on one side of the river and a Sunshine Hotel on the other. This was a railroad stop and a swinging bridge was on the site to allow passengers access to the Sunshine Hotel. The steps that led to the hotel and the chimney still exist. A swinging bridge is located there today.

There is a fresh water spring that comes out of the mountain at Kinzel Springs where the East Tennessee Real Estate office is located that could also be added.

Herb Handly, executive vice president of Smoky Mountain Convention and Visitors Bureau, said a $4,000 grant has been received that will allow a new brochure to be printed, hopefully in the spring.

The new brochure will include the 185-year-old Century Farm of Laverne Farmer near the Visitors Center. Farmer donated a conservation easement to the Foothills Land Conservancy, signing away the development rights for the 210-acre farm.

She wants the family property to continue operating as a working farm in the future, land that borders the Smokies.

As more historic locations are added to the trail, use grows.

"The trail is one of the most popular in the area, particularly during holiday weekends," Handly said. "It is not only used by guests staying overnight in Townsend, but also by people staying in the Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg area. It gets a tremendous amount of use from people living in area cities, like Knoxville, particularly on holidays and good weather weekends."

"As the years have gone by and word has got out about the Townsend trail, we find more and more people using the trail," he added.

"I think one of the reasons people like the trail is that it is relatively flat and children friendly," Handly said. "Also, with three underpasses, there is no interaction with traffic on the road."

Locals history buff Addison West collected much of the oral history about Townsend and the Leadership Blount class of 2002 was instrumental in getting the brochure first published.