#34 Abandoned Gatlinburg Ghost Town - Elkmont Village!
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- Music credits to my amazing wife, Bekah! Here's are links to her songs:
• Elkmont Melody (happy ...
• Elkmont Melody 3(fulls...
• Elkmont Melody
Here's our recent trip some of you have asked for. We got as much footage without being overbearing. We used our nice flood light kit to illuminate the inside of the buildings more clearly.
If you want to read on some history check this out:
www.ghosttowns....
Bekah is a great photographer. Some of the exploring videos they move the camera so fast you can see anything. Bekah takes her time and makes sure we see everything. Thanks.
Thanks sue. Yes I agree she’s great !
Sue Nuckles I agree with you that's why I just suscribed to their channel because I like how both shows and described everything
Exploring with Rick & Bekah yeah Bekah are one of the absolut greatest filmers......i love to hear Bekah little voice, when i look at youres vids it interresting, and it calm me down. Youre are both great.....i laf at Rick sometimes when it get «over his head 😂» his funny......i think you are great with youre sounds Rick.....luv to you both 💞👍
So true. She seems as if she's moving slowly, be one gets to see a lot in a short period of time. She just has a knack for doing this. I really enjoy this couple in these vlogs.
Years ago Elk Mont (1969) was a wonderful and well kept home to many people and vacation home to other. There was once a old graceful Hotel. I think it was called Wonderland Hotel. The park service had a service home there for their rangers. Elk Mont was a great get away for me. I would take my dog Wolfgang (white shepherd) for a run up the road by the river 5 days a week. The summers in Elk Mont were busy and many people would be taking advantage of the area. Campers, fisher, swimmers and hikers. It was a safe place to go. The people that had homes there were granted a 99 year lease by the government. They could not sell the property but family members could continue the lease in the event someone passed away. This was a magical place and winters in Elk Mont with the snow was simple beauty. It is so sad to see what has happen to that special area. Not sure what happen in the passing years when everyone's lease was up. Thanks for your video.
My grandparents had a 99 year lease in Oregon but it wasn't transferable to any other family member, we had to just take what we wanted and leave the place. So sad to have happen but no other choice.
Elkmont is a part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was not damaged during the wildfires that occurred in November 2016. Currently the park is working on stabilizing some of the structures and tearing down some that are past repairing. The Appalachian Club house that sits near the parking area at Elkmont is available to the public to rent for various occasions. All in all it is a great place and my husband and I visit there quite often and enjoy sitting in the rockers on the clubhouse porch while enjoying a light lunch.
She's a mouth breather with a sweet voice. I saw more of him than I did of the houses and why film the toilet insides?
Why do we have to see the inside of a “Abandon Toilet?”
😱🤮
I love you two ,you keep it so nice and clean and no cussing .You two are about the only ones I watch
Thanks Norma. We won’t change that ever. :)
Bekah is TOTALLY outta control!! I really dig her enthusiastic hysteria and zeal while exploring with the tenacity of a spider monkey. Btw, glad to finally see someone use the mfg date inside a toilet tank for date referencing a house. (Yes, I'm a plumber). 2 questions: who keeps making the dog whimpering sounds when you examine the contents of a toilet? And, is Bekah wearing CLOGS?!
Yeah she’s crazy insane with the exploring lol. She was likely wearing crockles. Ha
I always look at places like this and wonder how it came to this end. I try to imagine what it looked like when it was just built and everything was fresh and new and people were living in there and the place was vibrant. Who ever dreamed things would end up like this and what began its downfall.
Pete R it was turned into a national park in the 30s but some families remained until the last owners of the homes died in the early 2000s
Love the video but you could leave the toilets out all together.
Thank you Bekah. You zoom in on the door handles door locks. I appreciate this I'm a fan of antiques vintage stuff and I would love to If I Had A Home of my own someday to (other than renting) have a those kind of door handles on my inner doors. Anything with the Skeleton Key so thanks.
*Just for anyone curious*
Most of these buildings are gone now due to their conditions. Reading the comments I just wanted to clear up some confusion about this "town" / "village".
This actually wasn't a town or village. They're are bunch of old vacation cabins that were owned by the rich folk of Knoxville, Tn and they weren't simply abandoned but rather bought by the national park service and those who owned the structures were paid the value of the materials, some argue a pitiful amount of money, and were allowed to continue to use the structures until the original owner passed away. It is called Millionaire's Row. There was a hotel called Wonderland on a hill not far away from an old lumber camp that was actually called Elkmont which is where the current Elkmont Campgrounds are today. I think that's where the confusion comes in when people think this area and the cabins on the hill where the old hotel was are a part of that old town, which existed and moved with the lumber mill years before the rich began building their second or fourth "homes" here, although the hotel did exist along with a hunting club. I see a lot of comments across videos of this place saying we should let the homeless live here but the buildings were completely in disrepair with only minor repairs done on the main buildings on the Row to halt further damage which is why there are signs posted to not enter, signs that people dont care to read and have caused enough of a risk to force the park to finally remove most of the buildings when I visited again in May '17. As per the comments regarding "I'd take everything I could from those buildings" Well, you could, but its property of the park service and someone will notice what you're doing. Not to mention the fact that to get out of the area you have to drive past the old clubhouse where a ranger usually hangs out and will 100% notice your loot. Whether you care or not is up to you and if you want to risk being thrown in jail for stealing old, rusted, broken, appliances with missing parts you cant find anymore, then by all means. Another interesting fact is that the man who helped drive the creation of the park owned a cabin south down the road from the clubhouse and regularly had nasty signs put outside his cabin from the locals who actually lived within the boundaries of the soon to be park. A historical marker outside the house talked about him and showed a photo of one of the signs but I couldn't see if the house was still there because all the buildings in that area were fenced off and being demolished.
Wow thanks for all this great info. So they're finally tearing down all the old buildings ??
No problem thanks for the cool videos
Sadly, yes. When your standing in the parking lot facing the old clubhouse and looking down the row of cabins, those are still there but the ones down the other way and near the spence cabin were being dismantled. Its a real shame too because there was a gorgeous Swiss Cabin on the corner as you first go up the hill to millionaires row that I walked through about two years ago and it was in perfect shape except for the kitchen floor. I have videos of all the buildings including the ones waaaaay down the road that were isolated from everyone else. I'd love to post them sometime but just haven't gotten to it, so Im glad you guys have some good footage.
I'd love to see your footage sometime if you ever decide to upload. I'm glad we got it when we did. :)
I’m so glad you captured these inside and out before they were torn down. My father was in the ccc’s when the park started camp 19, and these are the final remnants of that era of 1929-1940. Thanks so much!
I would love to have one of those old kitchen sinks in my house.
I may have to unsubscribe if Rik’s obsession with toilets and childish noises doesn’t stop. Definitely NOT what I subscribed for. Once that starts I tune in to someone else’s videos.
Me too! Very immature and just plain gross. It’s a shame because their videos are great and she is fabulous with the videoing. He ruins it all though with his childish behavior.
Thank y'all. I love seeing the world through your eyes. And I think you got through an entire video without belching. LOL. It's all good. Keep up the great work.
Oh yeah you're right! No burps! lol thanks
Exploring with Rick & Bekah Keep up the great work.
Ugh all those amazing old claw foot tubs and enamelled kitchen sinks!!! Man those are worth big bucks on the salvage market!! I can’t believe they’ve just been left to rot away like that!!
This cabin was called a dog trot house because of the breezeway that separated one side to the other side. They were built that way to allow breeze to flow in the hot summer nights.
In the south we say a dog run, you could come in through the front door and straight through the middle of the house was the back door.They were easier to keep warm made this way.
Why must you show every toilet and it's contents???🤢
Rick and Bekah, you got there just in time! Most of the houses that aren't already collapsing are very close to it even if they don't show it at first glance.--I'm guessing those numbers and dates in the basement shown toward the end are to mark when floodwater got into the house and how high it reached.--I've never heard of Monarch stoves. I noticed that the knobs for the burners looked like flames. Colby pianos are new to me also.---Shag carpeting: ecch! So 1970's.---The carpeting on the floor-to-ceiling posts was something else: looks silly but if the residents had cats the cats must have loved it: talk about scratching posts!
It still would be awesome to live right above a creek like that.
Just want to say your camera work is excellent! You guys give us viewers a good glimpse of your exploration! Everyone else is always in a rush! Mama Mia, I wish I had the time to do this stuff!
Glad you like !
heh… get over the toilets, beepbeepbeep… lol
absolutely amazing!!! This is y'alls best yet. Thank you. keep em coming.
that toliet at 8:47 is gnarley.....you know they had to feel better after that function transpired
I’m so glad you can appreciate the finer things in life orson. :) your comments are refreshing 😬
thanks ya'll...i really enjoy getting to see these places...i know some people dont like the toliets but they can turn away and let us have our fun with it...keep up the good work and take care
Off grid anyone? Oh my the old kitchen sink! A lot of good lumber. Claw bathtub. Knotty pine paneling. I would sleep great listening to that creek. That one log cabin with the basement could be renovated.
Looks like my favorite house there has been wrecked by vandals/looters. The one where you found multiple appliances in the basement used to be like a ti e capsule in the kitchen and under-stair storage, with canned/bottled goods ranging from Brim (coffee) to Comet to Jif to Raid. All in their glorious 70s style packaging that I remember from my youth.Such a shame it's all gone now, glad I have lots of pictures! Thanks for sharing your exploration.
That's a shame. I'd love to see those pictures you took. Thanks for sharing.
They are somewhere on an old backup hard drive from 8 years ago or so. If I run across them again, I will put them into a video for you.
I love the knobs on that sink.
Awesome video! The homes were definitely circa 1800's and added on to as the years went on. The plumbing in most of the homes 🏡 was circa 1950's same as the appliances in the kitchen except for the brown ones, they were 1970's same with the carpets. Also, you can tell that the plumbing was added years after the homes were built. It was cool to see the different years that were added on to the homes! I heard a lot of water running from the streams and I bet they had a major flood and had to evacuate the area because of it. Thanks for sharing this wonderful adventure with us! 🔮ɱყʂɬıƈąƖɱơơŋ 🌙
the government bought it, I'm pretty sure everything is getting torn down by now...
The park use to allow people to stay in their homes inside the park as long as they maintained them in their original condition, people changed them and the park closed them all down.
That is not true. People lived here until the Great Smoky Mountains National Park took over when it was established. They were allowed lifetime leases, with a few renewed in 1972 because they had still not lived out their lifetime. When the last lease expired in 1992, and the last resident was gone, the park took possession. So all of these buildings and what is left of their content belongs to the park and you can get a prison sentence or a very hefty fine for removing ANYTHING. They have been put on the National Registry for historic homes and some are now being restored by the park for visitors to enjoy when they visit. One section is called Millionare's Row, another Society Hill, and the other Daisy Town. Daisy Town is the only section that is going to be restored and saved. It is on the same road as the Appalachain Club which belonged to that community when it was "alive". It is available for day time rentals. Do the research on the Elkmont community in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is not abandoned, it was just taken by different owners - the park. The people had no choice, but at least were allowed to live out what they wanted or could. This is sacred ground to all of us who live in these parts and no the history, and yes, some of us my age who grew up in Elkmont. Please do not take or destroy anything.
Typical government waste.
"Alright everybody let's go upstairs, looks like it is open." It would be funny if you went into one room and it was fully of people around a table playing poker like nothing was wrong and they invented you to join them.
i bet these were really neat back in the day..great place for a vacation back in the day
Storm2aRainbow Yes they were.
It would be funny if this was a hub of urban explorers and they all had the same idea and they unofficially reopened the town because so many people came to explore abandoned places.
Dude! Put some boots on when exploring abandoned structures! You're gonna step on a nail or go through the floor one day and you will wish you had some protective gear on.
he dorsn't know any better. he's just a snow flake.
A snow flake ? That's a lovely insult. Nice. 😁👍🏻
Oh dear me, yes! As soon as you do step on a nail you will be so upset with yourself! Tetanus shot will ensue, cleaning of the puncture wound --as foreign objects can get pushed up, perhaps part of your shoe (my sis had that happen to her!) And it's verrrrrry painful. Yes, I did it too, some 50 yrs ago. Boots, and protective gloves ;-))
First view of that place.... I wouldn't even get out of the car, I would go straight home. That whole scenery reminded me of Crystal Lake from Friday The 13th😂 The place looks very cool though but it's a shame that they let it get that bad. All these homes and cabins that they leave abandon, they could use these as homeless shelters. Put them into good use instead of letting these beautiful places rot away to the point that they can't be fixed.
We thought the same, that they could be put to good use. Some are still salvageable. Most are pretty wrecked. Either way, I'm just glad they're so easy to explore. No challenge at all getting into most of them.
Twilight Warrior I totally agree with you!
YesTwilight Warrior
Gorgeous. God made the mountains so beautiful. These old homes, cabins are like heaven on earth, at least our earthly kind of heaven. The peace and quiet you'd feel living there would be perfect!
Nice work! Thanks for sharing.
I loved watching this video,reminiscing my childhood when we would take a trip to the great smoky mountains,rent a cabin,eat watermelon,and just appreciate being in the great outdoors inhaling the crisp clean air😉
Thankyou Rick & Bekah!
Very strange collection of things from 50's to 70's appliances use call together Great video
LOL I got tickled when you saw the old fridge, they stopped putting in egg holders, I guess too hard to clean maybe needed more shelf space, but around late 80's I guess they stopped putting them in.
What a heavenly place it must have once been to live. Did they force the people to move? It just doesn't seem right. :'(
these were rental cabins
These were NOT rental cabins until the last few years of their use. The oldest cabin was built in the 1830s and were owned by wealthy families for summer use.
You slowly open the door to each room like you are police in training.
These should be used for people who don't have a place to call a real home.
YIPPY! more smelly commodes good videos thanks for sharing y'all are really good.😖😜🙀
Really great place to explore. It would have been a lovely place to live. Its sad that all the homes are just decaying. You do a great job filming until it comes to the toilets. I really don't care to have a close up view, I cringe when you come to the next bathroom !!
you need a metal detector, the treasures are outside in the ground!!!!!!
+Tim Woods have a detector. Mine etrac. Compadre and an f2! Also three Garrett pro pointers ! Just no time to do it. Also this is a national park so likely would have gotten in trouble.
There are plenty of treasures inside those old places too !!!
That giant hole in the floor that almost took the door with it looks like two superheroes were fighting there.
"Some of the homes, could still be in good condition,Peaceful to me,Beautiful!!!"
Thank you so much for taking the time to explore and showing us.
I have just recently found your videos this is why I am commenting on one from "2016"! I love the camera work and seeing all the things in those old homes you investigate. I tell you what, I would love to have one of those kitchen sinks that have the drainboard made right into it. I don't think I could do what you both do because I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of everything like you do, I would have to touch things. Lol. I do respect the fact that you are both young and DO NOT damage anything you see. I do wonder what are some of those odd sounds I hear in the background sometimes though.
I'd take everything from those buildings if I lived around there... Somebody should because all those doors, cabinets, fixtures, hardware, and appliance, that's stuff is rock solid, nothing like the crap today.
Wandering outsider agreed. I wonder why they didn't have an auction?
do you want ghosts? because that is how you get ghosts
It's against the law to take anything from natl landmarks
This is a national park. You don't want to do that
Fyi the slot in the back of the bathroom medicine chest that you opened was to drop old double edged razor blades into, they fell in between the wall studs.
Another awesome adventure.. It's such a shame that compound went into such a disrepair. With all that old knotty pine wall board. and all those windows..
I wonder why all those houses and cottages became abandoned in the firsy place.. Any history , you might know about?
so adorable holding hands in the end credits.
Oooooo...love that old claw foot bathtub at 28:50 ! The old sinks had 2 faucets back then, the left for hot and the right for cold. 38:00 is a clothes dryer. Another claw foot tub at 38:30. Nice blue sink at 40:42. Love the wallpaper at 41:31. Cute little wet bar at 44:55. Great tour guys, thanks! 😄✌️
Awesome music wow Ani totally enjoy your vlogs great work keep it up always
Ooo and the doors😍. The spring closer on the door near the beginning took me right back to my childhood 😂😉
"Is this a good idea?" "I don't know." Yes I understand to impulse to climb every ladder.
Beautiful houses. Nice video
I wonder if any of this still exists. After the forest fires in the area. Nice videos super quality good edits.
Awe, that is so sweet you both holding hands and walking.
these places look as if they used to be very beautiful
Those old Post pictures have a lot of Rockwell prints.
Do these folks have a fetish with dirty toilets?
I like the way you pick up the small details Bekah. Lots of cool handles and locks and sinks .well filmed.subbed.
Also Norman Rockwell paintings that were used on a couple magazines. He was a very detailed painter and I loved him when I was a kid.
What amazing cabins, many so well built bet last long time even after the roofs go. Once all the wood rots away, still be amazing stone work. Too bad times have changed and these types of places are no longer viable. I have fond memories going to a similar, though more commercial as most of the newer cabins were all the same, like a motor hotel, until was no longer financially viable and we no longer went. Did get to stay in one of the older cabins once, felt way more of the land, though nothing like these that are built to the site and added onto over time. Love how each is unique, even the fireplaces/masonry, though one was a bit dated using cut angular stone.
Thank you for sharing.
"The sink and toilet are really gross." Forces Bekah to look right at them.
I did a little research on the place and it had read that there is markers telling you about the history of the places there. And they are doing renovations on some of the buildings as well.
This place reminds me of in the 60's when my family would rent a cabin on a lake in Minnesota. The cabins look so much like these do.
I done a photo shoot of the Himlerville House probably 10 yrs ago I don't have those photos saddly changing over stuff and well my card got stolen, by an ex.
Too bad you don’t still have the photos :(
I would love to live out there.
Those fireplaces are so pretty. The square appliances are hot water heaters.
I wish the national park would have preserved some of these homes, especially the 1st one. It was beautiful.
I adore the ceramic sinks and tubs!
In the upstairs hallway, I really like the window that lets you see directly on to the roof.
Nice videos, keep up the work.. gave y'all a sub
Looks like an awesome place to explore
good explore Rick, some of those Bathroom and kitchen fixtures easily go back to the 40's at least
I like the visual effect of that hole in the floor as you can see under the house and into the porch.
I like the scenery of that porch but yeah it would be so easy to just slide off into the abyss.
They tore most of the buildings down :/ Such a shame too because there were some hidden waaaaaay back off that old road about 2 miles into the forest that no one ever filmed or photographed. At least I got to see them. They didnt look too different from these but they sat on what looked like mini plantations with old growth trees that somehow survived the wave of deforestation before the park was created. Thanks for sharing
Aw. Do you have any photos or videos to share ? I had a feeling there was more waaaay back there.
I will have to check. I believe I do. I think you can see them on google earth still too
The best video I've seen of Elkmont. Thank you Much Rick & Bekah
thank you bekah for the great shot of the creek,,,...
Wow really beautiful houses, nice architecture. Thankyou xx
Wow and entire abandoned town with such pretty trees. That must be orgasmic for you.
could build a very sturdy new house with all those well built antique doors...
Why are all of these homes abandoned? I remember going to Gatlinburg and loving it as a child. We used to put watermelons in the creeks to make them cold. These houses if kept up could have been nice....Oh and please quit taking those toilet shots. I have to turn away each time. Love seeing your interest in these things.
If you are going to keep posting on UA-cam, I would git rid of the childish sound effects and edit your bodily nosies (belching). Happy ghost town hunting.
Great house!
Oh and the carpet on the posts bet was to protect little children as they played in the playroom.
I would love to do this as a job or just for fun. I love this stuff, although it makes me mad that people dont help clean up to help the environment. I mean if its gonna sit their u might as well help put the garbage away. There isn't anyone to say it isn't okay. I mean leave history but clean up the garbage. I would! while looking at the awesomeness. I think mainly that's because i have ocd and i like things neat and tidy but i love rustic. I just hate watching other go into homes and not bothering like picking up a trash can and throwing a little ol bottle away. Love ur guy's tour....
I wonder, this is more a question not my ocd kicking in. Have you guy's come across something creepy or unexplainable that u havent yet shared or show ur fans?
I was there so many times..it's a wonderful place..... I wonder how is now after the fire......................All what happened is so sad. I love the SMOKIES . THANKS FOR SHARE
Love the wooden structure. Made to last. All it needs is modern facilities!
Those old sinks are awesome.
The log cabin structure looks sound. It could have lots of potential. Great video.
Regarding the door that leads to the basement I really like how there is a shelf on each underside of the upper stairs.
Sad to see all the hard work on your videos go thanks for the mems
What do you mean ??
Like the salmon colored tub😀 loved the little brook💖
Love your videos. You guys do great job...
I wish I could find things like this.. but I wouldn't step inside any of them, I am 250 lbs.. so I wouldn't dare to try any of that.. but I love taking photos and if I can get close to the windows or an open door, I'll take photos of the inside without entering but I been inside one building only so far.. that was the brick house in my home town.. A lot of people saw me coming out of the place a few times they never said anything.. One guy just said "Don't go in there! It's dangerous!" He didn't say any thing I was taking, he just told me not to go inside anymore.. I took mainly books because I didn't want them to be lost.. I did find a use for them anyway.. they're being used for holding a 3 shelf book shelf above the heater. Other things I found in that house was vintage tins that were rusting away.. I couldn't help but take them.. I either put stuff to use or I sold them to someone who needed them. I even found tons of match books with matches still in them.. I never thought match books were worth anything.. empty ones are worthless but ones that still got matches are worth money depending on what type they are.. advertisements for big businesses or landmarks.
"I have read up on this place quite a while ago,To Bad they are not in better condition,Would have been great to stay there,Thank-You for sharing!!!"
At 5:32 , I love those old fashioned locks.
photography is great!