History of Logging in the Smoky Mountains
We know the Smoky Mountains as foggy towering mountains with a thick forest. Did you know that before the Great Smoky Mountain National Park existed that most of the Tennessee side of the Smoky Mountains were barren? Here at Cades Cove Heritage Tours , we love the rich history of the mountains and we love to tell the stories. In this week’s blog, we would like to talk about the history of the logging industry in the Smoky Mountains. Early Logging Endeavors The first logging operations in the Smoky Mountains began in the 1880s. The most well-known early loggers were the English Lumber Company on Little River, the Taylor and Crate on the Hazel Creek, and Alexander Arthur on the Pigeon River. These operations couldn’t reach the high forest ranges, so they focused on the low-lying areas along waterways. They used splash dams or booms to float logs down the rivers to get to the mills. The dangers of working on waterways were flooding, and all three companies failed after their opera...