history

before the inn

Just one mile from where the Inn now stands you’ll find the ancient site of the original Cherokee “Mother Town” of Kituwa. For centuries, the Cherokee nation controlled these mountains and valleys, including the site of Hemlock Inn and what is now Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, this area was given over in various land cessation treaties with the United States. Though about 300 acres near the inn was returned to the Cherokee in 1996, including the Kituwah site, most land in the surrounding the Tuckaseegee River, Cooper’s Creek, and Galbraith Creek area near Bryson City is now either privately owned or a part of the national park. At some point in the early 20th century, a small farm was formed in this area on a mountaintop plot of land between the Tuckaseegee River and Deep Creek. As recently as the 1930s or 1940s, that farm was run by a man named Plumer Plemmons.

1952-1969

In the early 1940’s, a couple from Atlanta named Lorene and Seth Haynie bought the farm from Mr. Plemmons. The 55 acre tract sat atop a small mountain at an elevation of 2,500 feet. The Haynies decided to open a small inn and name it Hemlock Inn, named for the great hemlock trees located throughout the property.

Hemlock Inn officially opened on July 4, 1952. The inn operated for two years without a telephone! The original building had only nine rooms, but by 1958 twelve more guest rooms were added. From 1965-1971, three cottages were built, making a total of 26 units. Hemlock Inn was originally open only in the summer, but soon the Inn began to open for the spring and fall seasons as well.

In 1964, Georgia and Raymond Johnson, from Washington, GA, bought the inn. The Haynies stayed with them for two years and during that period, the Rondette cottage was built and the second story was added to the innkeepers residence. Then in 1968 the Johnson’s sold the inn to John and Ella Jo Shell from Marietta, GA and stayed with them for a year to teach them the business.

1969-2025

To many of our longtime guests, John and Ella Jo are synonymous with Hemlock Inn. Moving from Marietta, Georgia, in 1969 with their two daughters, they welcomed guests for the next 20+ years. In 1982, Ella Jo published the first Hemlock Inn cookbook: Recipes from our Front Porch. The inn also made significant renovations and added a new cottage during this time. Ella Jo passed away in 1998 and, in March 2025, John joined her in the presence of the Lord after 95 years of a life well-lived and over 50 years of welcoming guests at Hemlock Inn.

1987-Present

In 1987, John and Ella Jo’s youngest daughter Lainey White and her husband Mort White came to the inn to help with the operation. Taking over innkeeping duties after John and Ella Jo’s retirement in the 1990s, Mort and Lainey are now Hemlock Inn’s longest-serving innkeepers. Raising their three sons here—and now second-generation owners and innkeepers for nearly 40 years—they continue in the long legacy of service, hospitality, and friendship at Hemlock Inn.