![[May 22, 1926] Calvin Coolidge signed the law creating the GSMNP](https://preview.redd.it/x6v6oqe2ep2h1.jpeg?auto=webp&s=ecaef29acc269e051469fc5ab77794100c3626ff)
[May 22, 1926] Calvin Coolidge signed the law creating the GSMNP
The law signed on May 22, 1926 authorized the creation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and was signed by Calvin Coolidge.
What makes it unusual is that the federal government didn’t actually own most of the land yet. Most western national parks were created from land already controlled by the government, but the Smokies were still full of towns, farms, churches, schools, logging camps, and family homesteads.
After the law passed, Tennessee and North Carolina, along with private donors, spent years buying more than 6,000 tracts of land from residents and timber companies. Entire communities disappeared as the park formed. Places like Proctor, Cataloochee, and Elkmont were partially or fully abandoned, and many families who had lived there for generations did not want to leave. Cemeteries remained behind, which is why old graveyards can still be found deep in the Smokies today.
At the same time, logging companies were rapidly cutting huge old-growth forests, and conservationists feared the mountains would eventually be stripped bare if nothing was done. One of the largest contributions came from John D. Rockefeller Jr., who donated $5 million, an enormous amount of money at the time.
The park was officially dedicated in 1940 by Franklin D. Roosevelt standing at Newfound Gap.
Today, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States. Covering more than 500,000 acres, it protects ancient Appalachian biodiversity, black bears, elk, salamanders, historic cabins, and remnants of mountain culture that otherwise might have disappeared.
That law signed on May 22, 1926 essentially began the transformation of a lived-in mountain region into one of America’s most important protected landscapes.