A bronze statue of Dolly Parton that resides outside the Sevier County Courthouse celebrates the hometown hero in a subtle yet powerful way in Sevierville, Tennessee. Known to draw crowds of people anxious to take a picture with or of the statue, the Dolly Parton Statue venerates the internationally known singer and songwriter in way that has proven to be a draw for both residents and tourists.
Drawing Activity and Attention to Sevierville
Raised in a small 2-room home in Sevierville with no electricity and no running water, Dolly Parton would grow up to become a country-music star. She has had 25 songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts as well as ten Grammy Awards and 49 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, she is also the star of several movies and has received multiple stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
To honor these achievements, a statue of Dolly sculpted by local artist Jim Gray was installed on the lawn of the Sevier County Courthouse in 1987. The statue shows a young Dolly strumming a guitar while sitting on a mountain boulder. The Dolly Parton Statue has a life and presence that allows it to come to life for the audience, which is part of the reason it has become a popular stop for country music fans.
The popularity of the piece has exposed these audiences to other notable monuments. The interest it has garnered has also allowed it to become a featured part of guided or self-directed walking tours of Sevierville. It is the second of more than two-dozen stops on the walk that showcases the history and beauty of the area in a way that some audiences would never see otherwise. These tours are a mix of history, heritage, and stories of the past.
Featured in guides of the region and the focus of many Sevierville events in one way or another, the Dolly Parton Statue is small and unpretentious when compared to other monumentous structures, but the presence it has established for Sevierville underscores the kind of impact monuments can make, no matter their size or scope.
Honoring a Cherished Daughter
The lawn outside the Sevier County Courthouse could just as easily be empty or highlight the history of the area, but instead, stakeholders imagined what it could actually look like to honor a cherished daughter of the entire Smoky Mountain region. In doing so, the Dolly Parton Statue showcases what it can mean to effectively venerate a hero of a region while also drawing activity to it.
