So far, the Forever Places project has restored 19 homes in the Great Smoky Mountains, preserving the stories of communities that lived within them.
Great Smoky Mountains Natl. Park — The final home of the “Forever Places” project in Elkmont has opened to the public, inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The project was an effort to restore the homes and tell the story of the people who lived there. The homes were built in the early 1900s as vacation homes to get away from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life.
The homes had fallen into disrepair over the decades, but with some touching up by members of the National Parks Service, they are back to their original look. Even the paint colors are the same, according to organizers of the project.
Robert Sanders, a carpenter with the Forever Places project, hopes that when people come into the unique …