The process to establish the Great Smoky Mountain National Park began in 1924.  Eighteen other National Parks had already been established by 1924, created out of lands already held by the federal government.  However, the Smokies were entirely held in private hands.  Most of the land was owned by logging and pulpwood companies and the rest was spread among farms and tiny plots.

It took more than a decade to raise an estimated ten million dollars to purchase, survey, appraise, and acquire the land.  John D. Rockefeller Jr. contributed five million dollars to help.  In 1934, 515,226 access officially became the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In an effort to preserve nature, more than seven thousand people residing on park lands had to leave.  Residents of the Cades Cove and Elkmont areas were forced to leave in the thirties and forties.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped dedicate the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at its 1934 opening.