Pigeon Forge Real Estate
Few communities in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee have undergone such a radical transformation as Pigeon Forge, a tourism-driven town located just a few miles from Great Smoky Mountains National Park. What was once a sleepy rural community that visitors passed through on their way to Gatlinburg and the national park in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s has grown into one of the top tourism destinations in the Southeast.
Although it has a year-round population of just under 6,000, Pigeon Forge hosts millions of visitors each year, most of whom are drawn not only to the nearby mountains but also to the wealth of world-class attractions, music theaters, outlet malls, specialty shops and restaurants that call the city home.
Playing a large role in Pigeon Forge’s growth in the past few decades has been Dollywood theme park, named after (and partially owned by) country music legend and hometown girl Dolly Parton. The opening of Dollywood in 1986, preceded by the overflow of tourists attending the Knoxville World’s Fair in 1982, contributed greatly to the increasing popularity of the community.
Revolutionary War veterans were among the first permanent settlers in the area, establishing homesteads near the banks of the Little Pigeon River in the late 1700s. Incidentally, the town got its name from an early iron works business as well as the river itself, which had been named for the prominent flocks of migrant passenger pigeons that fed on the local beech trees. The city grew modestly over the years but wasn’t officially incorporated until 1961.