4 Rockefeller Memorial at Newfound Gap . . .
Read MoreUS Route 441 runs through the center of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and crosses the border between North Carolina and Tennessee at Newfound Gap. This 5,048 foot high mountain pass is the lowest elevation pass through the National Park. The name "Newfound" stems from the fact that the pass was not recognized as the lowest until 1872 when the elevation was measured by Swiss geographer Arnold Henry Guyot. Nearby Indian Gap was thought to be the lowest pass until this "new found" gap was discovered. A new road over the pass, Newfound Gap Road now Route 441, appeared shortly afterward. I've stopped here before and decided to check it out again on my way back from Clingmans Dome, (Newfound Gap is only 7 miles from Clingmans Dome Road). The gap itself features a parking area, informative displays, and several mountain overlooks. But the most distinctive feature is the Rockefeller Memorial.
The idea of creating a national park in the Great Smoky Mountains had been around since the 1890s. But nothing happened until 1926 when President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill that provided for the creation of the park once land had been acquired. This was not going to be easy because a lot of the land needed was in private hands. By 1928, government funding coupled with private donations raised $5 million for land acquisition. A matching $5 million grant from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Fund guaranteed that all the necessary land could be purchased. The memorial shown above was built in honor of the Rockefeller grant. After several years of acquiring land and building facilities, President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially dedicated the park from the Rockefeller Memorial on September 2, 1940.