It’s appropriate that in a theme park dedicated to mountain life, the remnants of a mostly forgotten relic are fading back into the scenery.
Or at least, they were fading. Now, it’s nearly all but erased.
This is Dollywood.
It is never long until lost spaces are rediscovered, repurposed or revitalized.
Also very much in keeping with the spirit of the mountains.
Read Also: Dollywood History: A look back at Rebel Railroad, Goldrush Junction
Where was the Dollywood Inventor’s Mansion?
Back in 1979, in the days before Dolly took her ownership stake, the park that is now Dollywood was known as Silver Dollar City.
On one side was Craftsman’s Valley with Blazing Fury and the Flooded Mine. On the other side was the County Fair with the railroad, the Log Flume and the Cloud Grabber.
Near the original entrance of the park, over the pedestrian tunnel that connected the two parts of the park stood the Great Inventor’s Mansion.
What was the Dollywood Inventor’s Mansion?
The mansion was the kind of filler attraction that theme parks loved at the time. A static, walk-through attraction, the mansion required little-to-no daily maintenance or upkeep, just the occasional cleaning.
The mansion itself seemed out of place in the park. It was hard to see over the cave tunnel that once connected the Country Fair to Craftsman’s Valley.
In 2022, that tunnel was removed completely.
At the time, the Inventor’s Mansion seemed architecturally more fitting for a haunted attraction than a whimsical romp through the mind of a mad inventor.
If you want an idea of what the inside was like, check out its cousin at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. Grandfather’s Mansion (video above) features an upside-down room, mirrored walls and other dizzying effects.
Read Also: These 5 ‘twin’ rides at Dollywood’s sister park will make you look twice
Even though the Inventor’s Mansion predated “Back to the Future,” it always puts me in mind of something Dr. Emmett Brown would have enjoyed. I don’t have great memories of the Inventor’s Mansion; it had already become Dolly’s Rags to Riches Museum by my earliest memories of the place.
Still, I understand there was a guy with a donkey nearby for photo ops. There was also a waterfall that was great for cooling off in the back. An early advertisement for the mansion promised a mystical concoction that defied gravity through its mad, unbelievable inventions and contraptions.
What happened to the Great Inventor’s Mansion?
Alas, the Great Inventor’s Mansion wasn’t long for the world.
The irrefutable force of change was coming to the park.
By 1986, Silver Dollar City was gone and Dollywood was embarking on a 30-plus year campaign of update and change.
While many Silver Dollar City favorites survived the immediate purge, and some remain today, the Great Inventor’s Mansion almost immediately was reformed to house mystical concoctions of another kind: Dolly Parton memorabilia.
Dolly’s Rags to Riches Museum was housed in the strange-looking mansion for a few years before it was moved to the Chasing Rainbows Museum.
The Chasing Rainbows Museum, I should note, is also closed for the 2022 season as Dollywood takes time to “reimagine future possibilities for the attraction”.
As the park grew, the former mansion’s position within it changed.
A new entrance was added several hundred yards away. And the growth of the park put less of an emphasis on the former pedestrian tunnel as a nexus for visitors to cross from one side to another.
Eventually, the mansion’s location became more and more the periphery of the park rather than a centerpiece.
With the Rags to Riches Museum long gone and the access to the building awkward at best via a long ramp, the opportunity to repurpose the building again was quickly falling by the wayside.
Now, the tunnel and any sign of the old attraction are gone for good.
It is among the other Dollywood classics that are gone but not forgotten, like the Flooded Mine ride, the River Battle, Thunder Road or Timber Tower.
Read Also: A look back at the recently torn down Dollywood Tunnel [with pics]
Can you see the remnants of the Inventor’s Mansion today?
Until recently, a few sections of the old roof could be seen above the former tunnel.
Those pieces served as remnants of a different time in the park. They served, somehow, as a fitting reminder of how the mountains reclaim abandoned territory swiftly and without mercy.
Now, those pieces are gone. In 2022, employees unveiled new changes within the park.
The tunnel that once served as a cool place to find shade is now a wide-open walkway at the park today, with little to be seen of what once stood in its place.
After all, necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention.
However, as one of the most popular theme parks in the country, I look forward to ever-evolving changes to the park knowing that Dollywood is always looking toward the future.
Read Also: What is the best roller coaster at Dollywood? A complete list, ranked
Do you remember walking through the old Inventor’s Mansion at Dollywood? Let us know in the comments below.
Editor’s Note: If you’re planning a trip to Dollywood, remember to check Tripster for discounts on your tickets before you go.
I would have loved to see the inventor’s mansion I remember the rags to riches museum honestly I was always in a hurry to get out of there. I thought it was rather boring.
I hate people who just have to make a negative comment. The original rags to riches museum was fantastic. Of course the new museum is an upgrade but the original was special and a first!
I loved it when it was the inventor’s mansion as a child. I hated it when it changed to Dolly’s museum because the little fun house was cool. I always wondered why they closed it. My thinking is that it is not handicapped accessible so they closed it up.
I do remember many, many years going into an attraction in that area of the park that had several trick mirrors and a floor that was slanted in places…I seem to remember it being poorly lit inside…not sure if this was the Inventor’s house or not…In the same area there was an attraction called the corkscrew or something..you sat on benches down the middle of a cylinder room….then the walls started spinning giving you the feeling that you were drilling through the mountain…got sick the first time I went in there..any one else remember this…
I have wonderful memories of taking the time to walk through the Rags to Riches Museum every visit we were there during the Season. It was a nice way to cook the kids down before their next big adventure in the park. I have many pictures of my daughter and Special Needs Nephew made with the lifesize full length picture of Dolly in her mint green gown. My daughter felt like she was standing with Dolly. I hope this can and will be brought back to a special place inside Dollywood.
As a child, I loved the Inventor’s Mansion. I remember being particularly fascinated with a faucet unconnected to anything that had water running from it. I think there was a perpetual motion machine also.
Don’t forget long before Silver Dollar City the park original was called Rebel Railroad and then Goldrush Junction before it became Silver Dollar City. I personally have going to that park for over 50 years and have enjoyed all the changes and with my kids and grandkids. It’s truly a great park to have in East Tennessee.
I have only been to Dollywood once and I think I was around 8 or 9. I do remember the museum where you could see her clothes and wigs and pictures. I thought it was very neat. I plan to bring my children there some day. I hate that this was removed but hopefully the space will get repurposed soon.
I don’t remember the inventors mansion but do remember Dolly’s rags to riches, I made my parents take me through it every time we went to Dollywood, I always loved her beautiful dresses, but what was before sounds even more interesting.
Oh yes, the Inventors Mansion. I loved it, always went in every time we went to Silver Dollar City. Enjoyed the Dolly memorabilia too. I vaguely remember Rebel Railroad but Goldfish Junction was a family trip every summer. My dad used to save Lay’s product labels from his work for the Be Our Guest promotion where you sent in labels and got free admissions to various attractions. We did all kinds of things for free and Goldfish Junction was a favorite.
I worked at Rags to Riches before the new museum!
I remember the Inventors Mansion from when I was a child and how much I laughed at my grandfather (who had a wooden leg) trying to walk across the slanted floor! I also still have a photo taken of me with the old man and the mule outside of the mansion. Great memories!!
After they moved Dolly’s things to the new museum they used the space for a Rollercoaster Museum! It was pretty cool too!
We loved the inventors mansion! We went through it every time we went to Dollywood until they closed it. We went through the Rags to Riches as well. Was there ever a Coke display?
I remember this but I remember a Coke museum being there. Anyone remember that?
I remember having my picture taken sitting on the old man’s donkey. I still have the picture too. I also remember a “machine” you stood in front of in the mansion that would show the “butterflies in your stomach.” I knew that feeling well and loved seeing the colorful butterflies flying around.
Going to miss taking 30 min rests in the tunnel especially to cool off during the hot summer days. It may be gone but will always live in my memories….