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August 28, 2026

Dolly Parton's love of the Great Smoky Mountains helped transform her hometown

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and DYLAN LOVAN
Associated Press

AP Photo/Camden Hall [enlarge]
Her deep devotion to rural Sevier County inspired her music and sparked a tourism boom.

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — Dolly Parton didn't just sing lovingly about her Tennessee mountain home. She spent her life elevating an often-overlooked region to showcase what long inspired her music and sparked a tourism boom that forever changed those living against the backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains.


 
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