Today in Johnson City History, Saturday, January 25, 2025

The Appalachian National Park, tragic death, Elizabethton's covered bridge, SHHS win

Thursday, January 25, 1900: One hundred and twenty-five years ago today, The Comet reported “The Appalachian National Park Association has petitioned congress (sic for Congress) to acquire land for a park along the South Carolina and Tennessee borders where, it is said, is found and only the culmination of the Appalachian system, but the most beautiful, as well as the highest mountains east of the lofty western ranges. Forty-three mountains of 6,000 feet and upward in altitude, as well as a great number of inferior heights, all clothed with virgin forests and intersected by deep valleys abounding brooks, rivers and waterfalls, combine to make this a region of unsurpassed attractiveness. It will include portions of the great (sic for Great) Smoky Mountains, the Balsam Mountains and the Black and Craggy Mountains.”