Blog for Zipline Attraction in the Smoky Mountains
Located in Pigeon Forge, TN and near Gatlinburg and Sevierville.
Take A Journey Back In Time
By Ross Bodhi Ogle
Posted on November 20, 2018
Lots of visitors to the Smokies are familiar with Smoky Mountain Knife Works, located along Tenn. Hwy. 66 between downtown Sevierville and Interstate 40. For four decades, this popular retail destination has attracted a growing number of customers with its immense collection of knives, accessories, apparel and sporting goods.
But a lot of folks who come in to browse the multilevel, 110,000-square-foot facility may not be aware that one section of the store is a virtual time machine, a unique space capable of giving guests authentic glimpses as far back into the past as millions of years. It's called the Relic Room. Located on the bottom level of the Knife Works, this modestly sized corner of Smoky Mountain Knife Works houses a treasure trove of historical artifacts and relics from virtually every time period and from every culture around the world.
The items are primarily categorized into three groups – dinosaur bones, rocks and minerals, and historical memorabilia that range from military artifacts to pieces of Americana. But what you have to keep in mind as your eyes take in the eclectic array of items is that everything is authentic, and it's for sale to the public.
That's right; you can purchase real dinosaur bones – not ceramic replicas but actual leg fragments, teeth, vertebrae and more recovered from dig sites. And that's just the start. You might also want to get your hands on pieces of meteorites and other space debris, or how about coins dating back to the time of Julius Caesar? The best part is that much of the merchandise is authenticated by documentation like certificates and videos.
How is this possible? The staff responsible for acquiring and curating the Relic Room's inventory would explain that there are more historical artifacts in the world than there are museum facilities to house them. That's why they have spent the past decade trying to make their historical finds available to the public, specifically to people who genuinely care about preserving history and the stories behind each item.
Right about now, you're probably thinking you'd have to be independently wealthy to become such a collector, right? While some items, like a large, intact dinosaur leg, can indeed cost a pretty penny, the vast majority of what you'll find in the Relic Room is surprisingly affordable. How about Roman coins for $35 or a piece of a lunar meteorite for the same price? They've got Civil War bullets aplenty, starting as low as a few bucks each, and believe it or not, you can get an actual suit of 18th-century ninja armor for only $75.
You'll also find lots of Native American relics, not to mention cannonballs, a witch doctor kit, historic newspapers and much more. Even if you choose not to get into collecting, you'll still be impressed by a spin around the Relic Room; we imagine some of you history buffs could spend a few hours there if left to your own devices.
We would also suggest hanging out for a few hours here at Smoky Mountain Ziplines, especially since we're only going to be open for a few more weeks for the 2018 season. We're open the rest of this week, except for Thanksgiving Day, and then we'll be open weekends only through December. (We'll be open all of Christmas week as well, except for Christmas Day).
You could even visit both places and make a fun holiday outing of it – Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for ziplining, Sevierville, Tennessee for Smoky Mountain Knife Works and a trip back in time at the Relic Room.
