We are Here!
Summer, the traditional time for family vacations, is already half way over. Where has the time gone?
If you are one of the families still hoping and planning to get in some quality family time before school starts, we just wanted to remind you that we are here.
Hemlock Inn is here:
We are here with beautiful mountain views and delicious home cooked meals included in your room rate
We are here with family friendly atmosphere and hospitality and close proximity to cool mountain streams for tubing or rafting
We are here, just a short distance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park perfect for hiking and site seeing
Hemlock Inn is here for you! Call for reservations (828) 488-2885 or use our online reservation system found on this website
We look forward to seeing you.
70 Years! It all started with a dream
Hemlock Inn will celebrate our 70th year of operation in 2022. The inn was the dream of Seth and Lorraine Haynie from Atlanta. Mrs Haynie, was the food service director of Emory University. She was hired by the government to provide meals for the workers building the Fontana Dam in the 40s. They fell in love with the mountains and bought a farm just outside Bryson City from Plummer Plemmons (yes, that was his real name). It rested on 60 plus acres which rested on a small hilltop overlooking mountainous views and the valleys below. Seth oversaw construction of the inn which opened on July 4, 1952.
The inn has had several owners of the inn over the ensuing years, including the current owner, John Shell originally from Marietta, GA. He and his wife, Ella Jo, bought the inn as their dream in 1969, 53 years ago. Their daughter, Lainey and her husband Mort White, joined John and Ella Jo in 1988, and still serve as Innkeepers today.
One of the definitions of a dream is “…a cherished aspiration, or ideal”. That certainly fits the description of Seth and Lorraine, John and Ella Jo, and Lainey and Mort and perhaps others. Hemlock Inn was and is more than a job for each of them. It is an idea of a special place that offers each guest and unique experience of fellowship, atmosphere, and of course delicious meals. It’s a feeling that can be hard to describe, it has to be experienced>
