Locust Ridge · Sevierville · Pigeon Forge · Nashville
Every patch a piece of her: twelve years old in 1959, beside Porter Wagoner in 1969, an RCA star in 1970 and 1977. She grew up in a two-room cabin in the Smoky Mountain foothills and never toned anything down after. She died on 25 August 2026; her country is still here to visit.
Locust Ridge, Sevier County · 19 January 1946
Try the lights.
Locust Ridge · private
Dolly Parton was born on 19 January 1946 in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, the fourth of twelve children.
It gave her the song “My Tennessee Mountain Home”.
Private land: not open, and not on the map. Her own retelling of the cabin stands at Dollywood.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Her new museum in Nashville begins with a recreation of her childhood cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park charges no entrance fee; parking tags cost $5 a day, $15 a week or $40 a year.
Open all year. No entrance fee; a parking tag ($5 a day, $15 a week) is needed to park.
Sevier County
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Compare toursSevier County Courthouse, Sevierville · 1987
Jim Gray’s bronze statue of a young Dolly was dedicated on the courthouse lawn in 1987.
She said the statue was one of the things she was proudest of in her whole life.
Free, any time: the statue sits on the courthouse lawn in downtown Sevierville.
A butterfly is looking for the bronze guitar.
Through the Dollywood Foundation she launched the Imagination Library in Sevier County in 1995, sending free books to children from birth to age five.
By 2026 it had given nearly 308 million books to children in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
After the 2016 wildfires, which claimed 14 lives, her My People Fund raised more than $9 million and gave $5,000 each to more than 800 families who lost their homes. In 2019 the fund gave what was left to the eight volunteer fire departments in Sevier County that fought the fires.
Nashville · 1959–1999
1959: Johnny Cash brings a girl from East Tennessee to the Opry microphone.
She became an Opry member in 1969, and stayed one for fifty-seven years. She followed the Opry from the Ryman, the “Mother Church”, to its new home in the 1970s, and called it the church of her heart.
The Ryman’s exhibit on the Opry’s roots shows memorabilia from Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline.
Self-guided tours daily, 9am–4pm, from $25 plus tax; shows most nights.
Music Row · 1971
Dolly’s “Coat of Many Colors” was made at Studio B in 1971.
Built in 1957, Studio B is known as the birthplace of the Nashville Sound and the Home of 1,000 Hits. Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, the Everly Brothers and Chet Atkins recorded there too.
By guided tour only, leaving from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Downtown · 1999
She moved to Nashville in 1964, straight after high school. In 1967 she joined The Porter Wagoner Show as his duet partner.
“Joshua” (1971) was her first solo No. 1; “Jolene”, “Love Is Like a Butterfly” and “I Will Always Love You” followed. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
Downtown, a few minutes’ walk from the Ryman. Studio B tours start here.
Music Row, Nashville · Add-on to a museum visit
Stand in the room where “Coat of Many Colors” was made. Tours leave from the museum.
Book the tourDowntown Nashville · Daily 9am–4pm · from $25 + tax
Walk the Mother Church at your own pace; the Opry-roots exhibit holds Dolly memorabilia.
Book a tourStudio B, 1971 · Dollywood, today
Her mother made her a coat from rags; she made it a song at Studio B, and the coat now hangs at Dollywood. Here every patch is a place. Sew them on in the order of her life.
Patch 1 of 10
Locust Ridge, Sevier County, Tennessee · 19 January 1946 · private
Dolly Parton was born on 19 January 1946 in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, the fourth of twelve children.
The cabin had a kitchen and one bedroom, with no electricity and no running water.
Private land: not open, and not on the map. Her own retelling of the cabin stands at Dollywood.
Pigeon Forge · since 1986
Dolly opened Dollywood in Pigeon Forge in 1986. The park covers 160 acres in the Great Smoky Mountains, with more than 50 rides.
24 May 2024
The Dolly Parton Experience opened at Dollywood on 24 May 2024, in place of the Chasing Rainbows Museum.
Songteller, behind a butterfly-shaped front, holds the coat of many colours her mother made, her guitars and a six-minute 360° film.
Behind the Seams shows her wigs and stage outfits, kept to the Smithsonian’s preservation standards. You can walk through one of her vintage tour buses.
Turn the price tag on the rebuilt cabin.
the real coat
Harvest Festival: lit pumpkins after dark until 31 October.
2700 Dollywood Parks Blvd, Pigeon Forge
It runs from late March to early January, with seasonal festivals from Food & Flower to Smoky Mountain Christmas.
Open late March to early January. Harvest Festival runs to 31 October; Smoky Mountain Christmas starts on 6 November.
3849 Parkway, Pigeon Forge
Dolly Parton’s Stampede is a dinner show with horses, comedy and competition in a 35,000-square-foot arena. A four-course dinner comes with every ticket.
Dinner and show, booked ahead: (865) 453-4400.
Pigeon Forge
A 302-room lodge beside DreamMore with balconies, butterflies in the lobby ceiling, her stage outfits in glass cases, and a trolley to the park.
Check roomsPigeon Forge
Dollywood’s first resort, next door to HeartSong. Pictured: the parking space kept here for Dolly’s tour bus.
Check rooms
600 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville · 29 August 2026
Dolly Parton died in Nashville on 25 August 2026, aged 80. Her family asked for gifts to the Imagination Library in place of flowers.
On Saturday 29 August 2026 the Opry gave its show to her memory. The Opry keeps a mural of her on its second floor and her outfits in its galleries.
Shows on Opry nights. Daytime backstage tours take 50 minutes, from $46.65.
Opryland, Nashville · 45 minutes · $59.81
A 45-minute backstage tour at the Opry House about the women of country music. The 50-minute daytime tour is $46.65.
Book a tourDowntown Nashville
Opened on 29 September 2026 in downtown Nashville: 245 rooms, two music rooms, Jolene’s and Parton’s Live, and Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum on the third floor. Pictured: the Hall of Fame nearby.
Check roomsLast patch.
9 places you can visit, in three areas. The cabin on Locust Ridge is private land: named on this page, never mapped.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Free, any time: the statue sits on the courthouse lawn in downtown Sevierville.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open all year. No entrance fee; a parking tag ($5 a day, $15 a week) is needed to park.
Court Avenue, Sevierville
Jim Gray’s bronze statue of a young Dolly was dedicated on the courthouse lawn in 1987.
Free, any time: the statue sits on the courthouse lawn in downtown Sevierville.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park charges no entrance fee; parking tags cost $5 a day, $15 a week or $40 a year.
Open all year. No entrance fee; a parking tag ($5 a day, $15 a week) is needed to park.
Stay
Her own new hotel in Nashville, and the two Dollywood resorts beside the park.
Downtown Nashville
Opened on 29 September 2026 in downtown Nashville: 245 rooms, two music rooms, Jolene’s and Parton’s Live, and Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum on the third floor. Pictured: the Hall of Fame nearby.
Check roomsPigeon Forge
Dollywood’s first resort, next door to HeartSong. Pictured: the parking space kept here for Dolly’s tour bus.
Check roomsPigeon Forge
A 302-room lodge beside DreamMore with balconies, butterflies in the lobby ceiling, her stage outfits in glass cases, and a trolley to the park.
Check roomsGo there
The Ryman, the Opry backstage, the Studio B room, and Smokies and Nashville days out.
Downtown Nashville · Daily 9am–4pm · from $25 + tax
Walk the Mother Church at your own pace; the Opry-roots exhibit holds Dolly memorabilia.
Book a tourOpryland, Nashville · 45 minutes · $59.81
A 45-minute backstage tour at the Opry House about the women of country music. The 50-minute daytime tour is $46.65.
Book a tourMusic Row, Nashville · Add-on to a museum visit
Stand in the room where “Coat of Many Colors” was made. Tours leave from the museum.
Book the tourSevier County
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Compare toursNashville
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Compare toursWhat’s on
Dollywood’s autumn festival and its Christmas, dated.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
An original 1980 poster from our store, her own books and the RCA albums.
An original 1980 US one-sheet, 27 × 40 inches, rolled and in mint condition.
Available framed
View posterDolly Parton with Robert K. Oermann
Her life told through her songs.
Find the bookDolly Parton with Holly George-Warren
The wardrobe, outfit by outfit.
Find the bookDolly Parton
The coat story as a picture book.
Find the bookDolly Parton · CD reissue, 2007
The 1971 Studio B album, reissued.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDolly Parton · LP, 1973
The Locust Ridge album.
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Find a copyDolly Parton · LP, 1974
The 1974 album.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
10 of 10 places · 13 of 13 Moments
Locust Ridge, Sevier County, Tennessee
Dolly Parton is born, the fourth of twelve children.
Court Avenue, Sevierville
Jim Gray’s bronze of a young Dolly is dedicated on the courthouse lawn.
She launches the Imagination Library in Sevier County.
After the wildfires, her fund gives $5,000 each to more than 800 families who lost their homes.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
2700 Dollywood Parks Blvd, Pigeon Forge
Dolly opens Dollywood in Pigeon Forge.
Inside Dollywood, Pigeon Forge
The Dolly Parton Experience opens at Dollywood.
3849 Parkway, Pigeon Forge
116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, Nashville
Johnny Cash introduces a 13-year-old Dolly on the Opry; she gets three encores.
She becomes a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
600 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville
The Opry gives its Saturday show to her memory.
Music Row, Nashville
“Coat of Many Colors” is made at RCA Studio B.
222 Rep. John Lewis Way South, Nashville
She moves to Nashville straight after high school.
She joins The Porter Wagoner Show as his duet partner.
She is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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