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1940

Sept 2. 1940: Thousands of people gather at Newfound Gap to hear the President, Frankiln Delano Roosevelt, dedicate the park that he had been quite influential in building. Standing on the recently finished Rockefeller memorial, with one foot in each state, FDR speaks of the importance of preservation, but also of the growing conflict in Europe.

>The Dedication

Hear the Dedication

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January 29, 1940: The new CCC-constructed Headquarters building is occupied.

> CCC in the Smokies

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1941

1941: Park visitation tops 1 million for the first time. A number this high will not be seen again until the war ends.

April 30th, 1941: Regional Director Arno B. Cammerer dies. Cammerer personally explored the area on his own, and was a zealous supporter of the GSMNP idea. It was said that he “ sacrificed his life for an ideal.” One, which we have been blessed to be a part of.

> Arno Cammerer

December 7, 1941: Within 15 months of Roosevelt’s dedication, Japanese planes strike Pearl Harbor. Members of the park staff gather to listen to the president address the nation, launching the U.S. into WWII.

Hear the B17's Flying

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1942

1942: Gasoline rationing goes into effect for the Atlantic Seaboard states effecting travel to the park by North Carolinians.

1942: A national defense school for park rangers is conducted w/ 40 in attendance. Instruction is given on the use and effects of high explosive bombs, firebombs, war gasses, civilian defense set-up, aircraft warning service, blackouts, duties of air raid wardens, improvising materials and equipment.

1943

April 1943: Month end, 37 CPS (Conscientious Objectors) workers have moved into NP-2 at Sugarlands.

>SCPC Resources on Conscientious Objection

Nov. 1943: An agreement is reached whereby upon flooding of Fontana Lake and therefore Hwy 288, TVA will deed 44,000 acres of land above the lake to the park if the park will build a road inside the park to replace Hwy 288, when funding becomes available.

1944

July 26,1944: Col. David Chapman, one of the Park founders, dies suddenly at his home near Knoxville.

8:00 am November 7, 1944: The gates of the Fontana Dam are closed. The water rose over 20 ft in the first 24 hours.

> Fontana Dam

1944: Congress authorizes the acceptance of land for construction of the proposed 71-mile Foothills Parkway.

> The Foothills Parkway

1945

Aug. 1945: News of Japan’s surrender reaches home where Gatlinburg locals react with rejoicing, ringing the church bells, joining together with singing and prayer.

1946

1946: “Time Stood Still in the Smokies” an article about the very popular Walker Sisters of Little Greenbrier, is published in the Saturday Evening Post.

> The Walker Sisters

The Walker Sisters of Little Greenbrier

1948

1948: Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac advocates the responsibility of people to the environment.