The History of Tourism in Tennessee
The history of tourism in Tennessee. In 2021, Tennessee saw record-breaking numbers from the tourism industry 24.2 billion dollars in visitor revenue and 1.9 billion in state and local taxes from tourism. It is the third largest industry in Tennessee and it's not showing any signs
of slowing down. People have always been attracted to the landscape of Tennessee, from indigenous peoples thousands of years ago finding a land teeming with game, to modern times when urban people seek the serenity of Tennessee's natural calming beauty. I love Tennessee and I feel my heart swell with pride when I read about the impacts my home state has had on events in history. Telling the tales that built this great state into what it is today
is a source of delight. This video aims to show you a small sample of the amazing things that tourists can see and do in Tennessee and explain the history behind them. Tennessee's landscape has drawn people from all walks of life as a "Gathering Place," creating a hotbed of historical events and natural settings that attract visitors with a wide variety of tastes, and making tourism an important part of its global connectivity. This video is divided into two sections: natural history and human history. We'll cover natural history first. Beginning with state parks, we have: Reelfoot Lake. Reelfoot lake is the only natural lake in Tennessee, as all others are man-made with dams and locks. It exists in Obion County in the northwest corner of Tennessee. The
15,000 acre Reelfoot Lake State Park offers cabins, campsites for tents and recreational vehicles, meeting spaces, a 400-person auditorium, and lots of opportunities for water activities. The first Europeans to see Reelfoot River were French surveyors, trappers, and missionaries. Establishing a park around the lake was first proposed in 1923, when the Tennessee Academy of Science wanted to build an observation outpost to study the unique biology around the lake. Reelfoot lake finally became a state park in 1956, attracting scientists and the public to visit to observe nature. Reelfoot Lake did not exist before 1811, when severe earthquakes shook the New Madrid area Northwest of Tennessee for several years. Once Reelfoot River had become Reelfoot Lake, the local fields were flooded, creating swamplands, cyprus groves with shallow water, and completely submerged walnut forests. The lake flooded many times throughout the late 1800's and
early 1900's, moving the shoreline and filling nearby fields with silt until concrete levees and spillways finally kept it under control. Cumberland Mountain State Park is built on seven 1720 Acres of plateau land near Crossville it provides access for the public to enjoy a lake 14 miles of hiking trails 37 cabins 140 campsites a restaurant gift shop replica Quaker Mill and a museum the state park also owns and operates a world-class 18-hole gorf Golf Course as part of the New Deal programs offered by President Franklin D Roosevelt to help recover from the Great Depression middle Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau was chosen as the site of the ambitious Cumberland homesteads project in 1934 to house 251 families once those homesteads were established it was decided that Recreation needed to be available nearby so another New Deal program the Civilian Conservation Corps was called in to build a state park a site was chosen and purchased in 1938 and construction began with a dam on birds Creek turning it into a 30-acre lake and construction on the various recreational facilities continued until they were completed in 1941. the final Edition was Bear trays Golf Course designed by famous golfer Jack Nicklaus which is owned by the park and opened in 1998. Cumberland Mountain State Park is not actually on a mountain but on top of a plateau an iconic Dam and Stone Arch Bridge combination was built at the headwaters of birds Creek to create the man-made lake at the center of the park the park is roughly shaped like a backward sea and follows the Steep Hills and Valleys around the creek making hiking and mountain biking trails more challenging the park is home to many varieties of wildlife but of particular interest to bird watchers because of the wide range of forest-dwelling birds and waterfowl that can be observed there Frozen head state park is an incredible 24 000 Acres of wilderness just west of Knoxville only rustic and primitive camping sites are available at Frozen head meaning the sites do not offer electricity or water although restrooms are provided in the campground there are over 50 miles of backpacking and hiking trails through untouched Mountain forests offering views of wildlife unparalleled by parks with more traditional facilities constructed the lands that would eventually become Frozen head State Park started with a land purchase by the state in 1902 for the purchase of building a prison at that time the area was called Brushy Mountain and the plan for brashy Mountain State Prison was mainly to provide free labor for nearby coal mines in 1933 Governor Hill McAllister designated part of the area Morgan State Forest because it was within Morgan County and the Civilian Conservation Corps moved in and started building conservation buildings such as a fire Watchtower in 1970 the state forest was transferred to the state parks department and renamed Frozen head Frozen head State Park was named after a mountain by the same name at the Eastern end of the park that soars to an elevation of 3 324 feet the highest point in Tennessee West of the Appalachians that is usually covered in snow over the winter the steep hills and mountains in the area are covered in dense forests giving wildlife of all kinds plenty of room to hide from Human encroachment rare high elevation birds make their homes in the area and Mountain Creeks are stocked with rainbow trout for seasonal fishing moving on to national parks and green spaces there is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is over 500 000 Acres of unspoiled nature preserves shared equally by Tennessee and North Carolina and is the most visited of all 59 national parks with almost 13 million visitors in 2022 more than Yellowstone Yosemite and the Grand Canyon combined it contains over 1 000 camping sites and picnic sites over 850 miles of Back Country hiking trails some of which are part of the Appalachian Trail and 730 miles of fish bearing streams as early as the 1920s people involved in politics and business started pushing hard to get a Park established in the wilderness between Tennessee and North Carolina sentiments had turned towards conservation and ecological preservation during a high point in the demand and production of wood products and the Appalachian Mountains were being heavily harvested by numerous logging companies President calvich Calvin Coolidge signed the bill in 1926 to establish the park and each state donated 150 000 acres for the project the rest of the land had to be purchased from private owners and the money for this was raised by ordinary concerned citizens the CCC built the infrastructure over the next few years and the park was finally opened in September 1940 by President Franklin D Roosevelt who gave opening speeches in person the Appalachian Mountains have a lengthy history of lore with the Cherokee Indians who called them chiconahe meaning land of the blue smoke referring to the myths that often conceal the mountaintops it is home to about 1500 federally protected black bears a local symbol found on signs and landmarks there are also 31 species of salamanders more than any other single location giving the park the title salamander capital of the world the mountains were original the original dividing line between the colony of North Carolina and the Wilderness when settlers started pushing West many of them went through Newfound Gap a main feature in the middle of the park Natchez Trace Parkway is a Federal Highway that has been improved for observing the scenery and history dotted along the 444 mile path through three states there are picnic areas hiking trails campgrounds historical markers and buildings Indian burial mounds and Scenic overlooks along the entire path the Natchez Trace was originally just many small paths through the woods used by animals and the natives who hunted them from 1699 until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 most of the land between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains were controlled by the French and the Spanish the French maintained an important fort on the Mississippi River called Natchez and controlled Commerce from there Merchants from Nashville easily floated their Wares down river but before stewing steam engines would often just abandon their boats in Natchez and walk back to Nashville there's repeated usage turned in Natchez Trace into a vital road until the invention of the steamboat Franklin D Roosevelt approved turning the road into a feat Federal Scenic byway in 1937 and the last construction was completed in 2005. the rough terrain between Natchez Mississippi and Nashville Tennessee made it necessary to build several Bridges along the roadway some of which are considered engineering Marvels the Natchez Trace Parkway arches was labeled the single most outstanding bridge building achievement of 1994 and soars 150 feet above the valley below many Indian burial mounds built by the Natchez tribe of the Mississippian period are accessible from the Parkway and some are 30 to 35 feet tall Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area is about 125 000 acres of land on the Cumberland Plateau shared by Kentucky and Tennessee within Big South Fork is charit Creek Lodge a resort with rustic off-grid cabins dining room and outdoor activities it is only accessible by hiking mountain biking or horseback riding Big South Fork has over 150 miles of Mark hiking and biking trails and offers camping canoeing and kayaking horseback riding and ideal locations for stargazing Big South Fork is a section of the Cumberland River that has the distinction of having no dams on it but TVA did consider the possibility in 1972 the Big South Fork Coalition and former Senator Howard Baker Jr worked on legislation together to provide dams prevent dams from being built in the area which was successful and helped establish the national River and Recreation Area in 1974. as land was
being purchased to form the area logging and mining companies scrambled to harvest resources until they became unavailable the Meandering path of the Cumberland River washed through the area over the ages gradually carving the Sandstone of the upper lent Cumberland Plateau into Cliffs chimneys and one of the greatest concentrations of natural land bridges in the eastern United States the river continues to be one of the main features of the Natural Area cutting through the landscape and offering opportunities for fishing and kayaking the numerous Sandstone arches are destinations for hikers and Intrepid photographers now let's dig a little deeper into Tennessee caves the takalichi caverns and towns in Tennessee stretch under the land of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and have Silver Falls the tallest Subterranean waterfall in the eastern United States at 210 feet tall the name takalichi is Cherokee and means Peaceful Valley and the cave system is believed to be 20 to 30 million years old cave enthusiasts and Joy are observing the stalagmites galactites waterfalls pools and unique rock formations guided tours are given and go on a round trip of approximately one and a quarter mile Native Americans are believed to have used the cave system for hundreds of years before settlers arrived then in 1931 a man named Earl mccampbell opened to the cave to visitors but the Great Depression hit hard and it only stayed open for a year two local boys Bill vanata and Harry Myers grew up playing in the cave system and the idea about opening it to the public stuck with them they went to college started families worked hard to raise money for many years and finally realized their dream of opening the takalichi caverns to the public in 1953. the year following the grand unveiling of the Cave the National speleological Society discovered a huge room deeper within the cave and at 400 feet by 300 with 150 foot high ceiling it was dubbed the big room some stalagmites in the big room are as tall as 24 feet the cave has running spring water and many natural water features Craighead Caverns the Craighead Caverns cave system in East Tennessee is home to America's largest underground Lake according to Guinness World Records it is only second largest in the World Behind Lake vostok in Antarctica a private company offers tours in the caves complete with rides on glass bottom boats across the Subterranean Lake which they call the Lost Sea Adventure discoveries of ancient fossils Native American artifacts Confederate soldiers assault Peter mining journal pages and Moonshine distilling tools have conclusively proven that the Kane's cave system has been used for various purposes for Millennia the name of the caves comes from a Cherokee Chief by the name of Craighead in 1905 a 13 year old boy named Ben Sands who liked to explore the caves with his father squeezed through a tight 40-foot long tunnel and discovered the giant underground lake that is now featured on the tours the care system is close to the gray Smoky Mountains and has features similar to the takalichi caverns however the Lost Sea is a major Discovery and is still being explored divers have been unable to determine how far the lake extends as it continues underwater far beyond the sonar they have tested it with the lake is stocked with rainbow trout which coutures can see with the glass bottom bottom boat tours but fishing is forbidden the visible part of the lake is approximately 4.5 Acres the Ruby Falls cave in Chattanooga is part of the larger Lookout Mountain Cave System but Ruby Falls is accessible by tourists and Lookout Mountain caves are not due to a concern over toxic soot from a defunct railway tunnel both caves together have 2.4 miles of mapped passageways Ruby Falls itself is the tallest and deepest underground waterfall in the United States Leo Lambert played in The Lookout Mountain caves until 1905 when the Southern Railroad Company built a tunnel through the mountain sealing off access to the Natural caves he dreamed of returning to the caves and opening to the pum to the public so in 1928 he and a crew of workers dug down through the mountain to create a new Elevator Shaft about halfway to the lookout mountain caves they broke through into the Ruby Falls caves and discovered amazing sites there Leo opened tours in 1930 and kept digging deeper but had to close tours going to the lookout mountain caves because so much soot from the railroad engines had been discovered in the deeper caves look out Mountain Towers above Chattanooga and the entrance to Ruby Falls caves starts on top with an elevator trip down into the tour area Ruby Falls is surrounded by many geological Wonders that took thousands of years to form including stalactites stalagmites and mineral pools the water that provides the waterfall of Ruby Falls Fame is seasonal and has been known to be artificially supplemented to provide a good view around the year that concludes the Natural History Section so now let's start on some topics in human history Tennessee was a major Western Battleground in the Civil War so let's cover some of the more interesting sites Fort Donaldson Andover Hill Hotel the Fort Donelson National Battlefield marks the site of an important battle during the Civil War it is 559 acres of land that includes the upper and lower batteries the original Earthen Fort and a cemetery for 670 Union Soldiers in February 1862 General Ulysses S Grant had a plan to capture Tennessee to provide Pathways into the south after a victory at Fort Henry he commanded the battle at Fort Donaldson and one there as well during the battle Confederate generals Floyd and pillow escaped to Nashville with about 2 000 men leaving General Buckner to surrender to Grant Buckner and Grant met at the nearby Dover hotel and Grant stated that his terms were unconditional and immediate surrender gaining him notoriety in the Union Fort Henry and Fort Donelson are near the Tennessee and Kentucky border positioned strategically between the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River to protect enemies from approaching Nashville the rivers played an important role in the region especially for the battles to follow the battle at Fort Donaldson included four newly Ironclad Union gunships and so water access was key to the union success once Fort Donaldson fell they continued down the rivers to Nashville Shiloh National military Park was created in 1894 to memorialize the events that took place there the park has a visitor center tours Museum monuments cannons and Hiking paths with historical markers the park also has a national cemetery that has 3584 Civil War Graves 2 395 59 of which contain unknown soldiers the graves are not entirely built from the battles at Shiloh but rather from locations along much of the Tennessee River the battle at Shiloh is considered one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War on April 6th and 7th of 1862 65 000 Union and 44 000 Confederate forces clashed resulting in nearly 24 000 Souls missing wounded or dead this was more than all losses from previous Wars combined the Union victory at this battlefield assisted with the capture of a Confederate Railway in Corinth Mississippi Shiloh Battlefield was positioned in Southwest Tennessee or near the border of Mississippi it was a key Battleground in the western theater of the war as it provided access to important Railways operating in the Deep South it also had the significance of being sacred native land before the Civil War and burial mounds can still be observed there foreign Chattanooga National Battlefield has the distinction of being the first national Military Park president Benjamin Harrison signed the designation in in 1890 and inaugurated by 10 000 Civil War veterans from both Union and Confederate armies five years later this was before Gettysburg even became a national park there are now monuments a visitor center hiking paths and guided tours offered there in September 1863 the battle at Chickamauga was fought and it saw the largest numbers of soldiers in the army of Tennessee yet in a fateful turn a gap in the union line was created and the Confederate troops broke through forcing Union troops to retreat this success made the confederates more confident for a while and when another battle happened in the nearby Chattanooga battlefields two months later the Union victory was truly unexpected this was the only time that the foremost notorious Union Generals Grant Sheridan Sherman and Thomas fought together the Chickamauga portion of the park in Georgia and the chattanoogan portion is in Tennessee but both sides have information and sites for tourists to observe securing this area in the Civil War provided access to important Railways the position high above the city of Chattanooga on Lookout Mountain gave the battles interesting strategic placements and now provides for beautiful views of the Rolling Hills of Tennessee did you know that Tennessee was home to three U.S presidents
one of the most famous famous tennesseans of all time might arguably be Andrew Jackson or Old Hickory as he was called he was a military hero lawyer businessman Senator and president of the United States in a time when the new nation was still struggling to determine its identity and policies The Hermitage is the home he lived at with his wife when he wasn't busy trying to change the world it has been preserved by the natural park Service as a museum honoring his life and accomplishments The Hermitage was the second home that Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel had built and moved into the first was on a much larger estate that had been sold to pay off debts Mr and Mrs Jackson lived in log cabins on the 425 acre property while the Mansion was being built local stone masons were hired to build the two-story Brick Mansion complete with Plantation style columns in the front the Mansion was rebuilt and redecorated after a devastating fire in 1834 modernizing much of the center of the house The Hermitage mansion and estate is about 12 miles east of Nashville an ideal position for access to political buildings but still operating as a functional Plantation it had access to a section of the Cumberland River which helped with some of Andrew Jackson's business dealings the estate still has several preserved log cabins on display as well as the mansion Columbia Tennessee is the childhood hometown of the 11th president of the United States James Knox Polk his home now serves as a museum honoring the accomplishments of his lifetime giving tours of the house and Gardens James K Polk served as president of the United States from 1845 to 1849. he grew up in Columbia Tennessee went to off to college in North Carolina and then returned to Colombia to pursue a law a career in law and politics once he was elected president he oversaw the acquisition of Texas Oregon California and New Mexico territories totaling over 1 million square miles he finished his presidency and went home only to die of Cholera 103 days later Colombia is in Southern Middle Tennessee about halfway between Nashville and the Alabama border James's father Samuel Polk brought his family West from North Carolina to find their fortune in the hills of Tennessee the duck river runs through the middle of Columbia the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site is a collection of buildings in Greenville Tennessee that memorialized the life of Andrew Johnson 17th president of the United States included in the historic site is his first house that he purchased in his early twenties his tailor shop his larger home on Main Street a cemetery and a monument in his honor there is a visitor center and guided tours are available over the course of his lifetime Andrew Johnson was a clothes tailor mayor of Greenville Tennessee congressman and Senator U.S congressman governor of Tennessee U.S senator and eventually the wealthiest man in Greenville he served as a democratic vice president for Republican Abraham Lincoln in support of keeping the union together he became president after Lincoln was assassinated he that became he then became the only former president to serve as a senator afterwards once this lengthy career in politics was finished he returned to Greenville and died shortly thereafter Greenville is in the eastern tip of Tennessee in a very mountainous region even though Greenville was well relatively small in President Johnson's time it was positioned on important roadway between North Carolina and most of Tennessee and so saw many Travelers pass through Andrew Johnson's family was passing through on their way to another town in Tennessee to look for work Andrew fell in love with Eliza McArdle and returned to Greenville to marry her and settle down now that we've seen some of the heroes and famous people let's look into the wonderful world of weird rugby Township in Tennessee is a village that was planned as the beginning of an idealistic utopian society It ultimately failed but the buildings that were built there in the early 1880s have been restored so that visitors can take tours to view the unique architecture and hear the stories about the original residents English author Thomas Hughes was famously appreciated for his social reform ideas he and self several wealthy businessmen from England and Boston formulated the idea to create a society where there was little difference between wealthy and poor people where everyone could contribute equally they chose a site to start building and by 1881 there were about 300 residents they had a library named after Thomas of course a church that was an offshoot of the Church of England and in and a school things went well for only a few years until typhoid fever and financial troubles drove away most of the residents it should be noted that Thomas Hughes himself never lived in the village for unknown reasons the site of this proposed utopian society was in the hills of East Tennessee the investors from Boston had purchased 75 000 acres of land with the intention of making a landing place for unemployed new englanders to escape to rugby is off the beaten path away from most major Paths of Transportation it has been proposed that this isolation was one of the desired features for the location rock city is not a city in the truest definition but a sort of a small-scale version of one Rock Gardens have been assembled with painstaking detailing and of the fairy tale theme giving this bizarre attraction a desirable otherworldliness for tourists to observe Rock City also has a unique Overlook with breathtaking views of Chattanooga from the top of Lookout Mountain attractions continue to be added on and the site has grown to welcome around a half a million visitors every year an enterprising businessman by the name of Garnett Carter and his fairy tale loving wife Frida lived on Lookout Mountain in the early 1900s Freda liked creating Enchanted looking Gardens and Garnett like turning a quick buck so between the two of them a bizarre European folktale inspired community and entertainment center was created Garnett attempted to build a golf course but did not have enough space so he created the world's first mini golf called Tom Thumb Golf later he opened Frida's gardening Creations up as prepaid attractions and called The Rock Gardens Rock City he then hired a painter to paint advertisements for the attractions on barn roofs around the countryside the location of Lookout Mountain the scenery surrounding it combined with the readily available rocks to construct the gardens with were all key elements in making an ethereal environment for this attraction the Parthenon in Nashville Tennessee is the only exact size model of the original Greek Parthenon in the world it is a concrete structure centered in a green space called Centennial Park on the west side of Nashville detailed carvings and a statue of the Greek goddess Athena have been added over the years to ensure accuracy the Parthenon hosts events and art galleries and can even be booked for weddings in 1897 Tennessee held an expo to celebrate its 100th anniversary of statehood the Parthenon was built out of plaster to be a temporary Art Exhibit Hall during the sixth month's Expo approximately 1.8 million people visited and the building was a huge success it was decided that the building should be kept but the materials had to be replaced because they were degrading quickly from the 19 from 1920 to 1925 local engineers and Architects worked tirelessly to rebuild the exterior from sturdy concrete many improvements continued to be made in the decades since then and the final touches were added in 2002 when the Athena statue installed inside was finally gilded and painted the position of the Parthenon and Centennial Park is based on what was needed for the Centennial Expo in 1897. once the other Expo buildings were taken down it was
decided to keep the site as a park for Nashville citizens due to its ideal location in the city and that's all I have time for in this video there were so many more places I investigated that I would like to tell you about but we'll have to save that for another video Tennessee has lots of natural beauty to observe and there are state parks national parks and Cave access points that have been built to be make them accessible to all there are also lots of stories to dig up about the past from brave Soldiers to intelligent leaders and all the quirky ideas that landed in Tennessee if you're planning your next vacation or even a day trip there are plenty of opportunities in Tennessee to see what you can learn about nature or incredible stories from the past now go and tell people to Tennessee what utena saw here thanks for watching
2023-05-06 22:34
