When the Smokies were made a national park, hundreds of residents were asked to relocate. But the Walker sisters were among the few who were granted a special lifetime lease permitting them to stay. On inheriting the mountain homestead from their father, the unmarried women became completely self-sufficient, making their own clothes, raising livestock, and growing medicinal herbs.

With the creation of the park, restrictions were placed on grazing animals, cutting wood, hunting, and fishing within its boundaries. So the sisters diversified, welcoming visitors into their cabin (pictured) and selling handmade crafts, home-fried apple pies, and handwritten poems. You could say they were early pioneers of community-based tourism in the national park.

Everything You Need To Know About America's Favorite National Park