Chilhowee Inn was an inn built by the Schlosser Leather Company in 1902 in Walland, Tennessee. It was constructed as a five room cottage to house executives visiting the nearby tannery. This was the last stop of the Knoxville and Augusta line of the Southern Railway System, and the starting point for the Little River Railroad. The Inn was named by Mrs. Rachel Fisher, wife of the builder, Mr. A. J. Fisher who was also superintendent of the tannery. [1]
Walland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Blount County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. Its population was 259 as of the 2010 census. Walland is the site of a post office and is the place name associated with zip code 37886, which covers an area beyond the Walland community.
Tennessee is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 16th most populous of the 50 United States. Tennessee is bordered by eight states, with Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the west, and Missouri to the northwest. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, with a 2017 population of 667,560 and a 2017 metro population of 1,903,045. Tennessee's second largest city is Memphis, which had a population of 652,236 in 2017.
The Southern Railway is a name of a class 1 railroad that was based in the Southern United States. The railroad is the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894.
One year after completion, an inn was added to the structure to provide accommodations for additional guests and teachers. [2] The inn was used as a boarding house for teachers at the public school during the school year. The rent was paid for by the tannery.
After the tannery shut down in the early 1930s, the inn became a nationally renowned lodge for people visiting the newly formed Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Excellent service and delicious meals prompted visitors to speak and write of their time spent at Chilhowee Inn. The inn appeared in many national publications of the time.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited national park in the United States with over 11.3 million recreational visitors in 2016. The Appalachian Trail passes through the center of the park on its route from Maine to Georgia. The park was chartered by the United States Congress in 1934 and officially dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940.
After its heyday, Chilhowee Inn spent a brief time as a restaurant, serving the local community of Walland. It lay dormant for almost three decades until new owners began to restore it in 2005. Chilhowee Inn opened as a bed and breakfast in February 2008 which makes it the oldest actively operating inn in Blount County.
Blount County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 123,010. It had an estimated population of 131,349 in 2018. The county seat is Maryville, which is also the county's largest city.
The building was considered for listing on the National Register of Historic Places as part of a survey of historic properties in Blount County, but because of several remodelings after 1931, it was found ineligible. [3]
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred in preserving the property.
