the little river railroad and lumber company museum

This little place is chocked full of great pics, stories, maps, & small artifacts that teach us what a huge role lumber played in early commerce of Appalachia and how it eventually helped define the need for Smoky Mtn. Natl. Park to preserve as much as possible. It's remarkable how resourceful people were when they made the tools to build what they could with raw horsepower and big hands.

This was a nice surprise visit. It is a great representation of the economic development of this area. Nicely arranged. Interesting artifacts. Supported by grants based upon the number of visitors. Admission is free and well worth the time.

I have to agree with jslyPensacola. Based on the description, our tour guide had to be Jackie. She definitely made Townsend come to life. I had no idea about the history of logging and trains in the area or the history of Townsend. She had us turning around and looking out the windows so we could envision the vantage point from which photos were taken, she pointed out interesting things in the photos (such as 1930's bathing suits and how the church was also the school and the movie house), explained how the logging tools were used, how loggers were paid, and scrip (sp) was ended,the differences in the types of trains, etc. And she definitely takes pride in that the land was purchased by the people and given to the national park to be preserved. You really see the legacy of Townsend as a bustling industrial town supplying lumber across the Midwest and that drew in tourism as logging dwindled. If you go, definitely talk to the tour guides because they add so much more to the experience than you can get from just looking at the exhibits.

This is a stop that looks like a train parked in front of an old building. Inside that old building is a trip to another world. Jackie, the tour guide, will escort you to the beginning of the town of Townsend. She is magical and uses beautiful photographs as props and leaves you believing you were there. Her knowledge of the area and everywhere surrounding it will astound you and leave you loving Townsend just as much as she does. We have traveled much of Tennessee in the past two weeks but she and the museum will be with us for a very long time.

We visited this site today. It took us longer to get there from Pigeon Forge than it took us to tour the museum. I realize it is a volunteer organization but there were many artifacts from the railroad and mining companies that were laying around on the floor unlabeled. It would be nice if the volunteers had some time when the museum is closed to catalog all of these things.

Really interesting place with local history, some great old photos and it's free! They do accept donations and there is a knowledgeable volunteer on site.

Stop by if you are interested on the impact of trains in this area's development. Take,thirty minutes to look and read and talk to the friendly staff. Entrance is free. Occasionally they fire up one of the engines and that was quite interesting to see. It is a great place to stretch your legs and have a nice time.

Really cool place and free, you can climb on the train and lots of old equipment it is a really cool little museum

This place had the friendliest most knowledgeable volunteer! If you want to know about local history stop here. It is completely free! Donations of course are accepted, but this is a great little museum.

First of all I want to thank Mike at the Museum for allowing us to look around. He was just getting ready to lock up when we walked in. He insisted we go ahead and look around and opened everything back up. This is a great place to spend about 45 mins to an hour especially if you like the old trains. What I really liked was the fact that there are a couple real small signs advising they stay operational off donations. They are a not for profit orginization. Knowing this i was imoreased that we were never asked or even hinted towards donating. So of course before leaving we dropped some in the jar to help out. I cant tell you how much i appreciate not being swayed or prompted to do this. We will definately be going back. Good luck getting your garden scale train up and going guys and gals cant wait to see it.

Stopped here to take a few photos with the train display, and we were treated to a pictorial history of Townsend and the Great Smoky Mountains! The museum is free and they have a gift shop plus a donation jar. Do not pass this one by!

this small museum is free. while the exhibits are limited they are well done and informational. the staff is very knowledgeable on trains. it is pet friendly also.

There is no charge to tour the museum. There is such a rich history there and I loved just walking through and viewing all of the railroad stuff and reading the information. It's small but worth a visit. There was a very nice man that told us to take our time and go through the museum, just turn the light off when you leave. He sat on the porch of the store while the four of us went through the museum. There is a very small place to buy a souvineer or two and you can leave a donation if you like. We stood on and by the train and took some pictures.

Very nice for the train enthusiasts. Old equipment in need of repair but very nice. The man in the store was very nice to talk to. Picked up some nice shirts.

Well worth stopping there. This little museum is packed with great photographs and artifacts!!!!!A must see for everone interested in local history and steam!