Walker sisters sold farm for $4,750, kept lifetime lease

The National Park Service has shared the story of the Walker sisters, six unmarried women who refused to leave their mountain home in what is now Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The sisters inherited a 122-acre homestead in Little Greenbrier Cove, Tennessee, after their father died in 1921. When the park was created in the 1930s, they held out until 1940 and eventually sold the land to the government for $4,750. In return, they were granted a lifetime lease to remain in the family log cabin.

The sisters lived a self-sufficient life, raising livestock, growing vegetables, spinning wool, and making their own clothes and remedies. After the park opened, they adapted by selling handmade items to visitors, including fried apple pies and crocheted doilies. They were featured in the Saturday Evening Post in 1946. Five of the six sisters lived out their lives on the property, which remains a historic site within the national park.