It’s been almost half a century since Dolly Parton left Sevier County, Tennessee, where she grew up “dirt poor”.

Despite that, she’s been a major influence on the area, which looks to her as a kind of patron saint.

There are businesses and buildings and charitable programs named for her, and her image gazes out from framed photos, billboards, T-shirts and even bathroom walls throughout the town.

VICE took a closer look at the town that sees the country megastar as a benefactor, muse and Queen.

Dolly has provided the inspiration for a number of attractions, including a theme park:

“I’ve been in this job for 30 years… and I can’t think of anybody else who’s impacted [this area] more than Dolly Parton, to be honest with you,” said Leon Downey, director of the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism. “Her theme park is now the most ticketed attraction in the state of Tennessee [and] the largest employer in our city. And then when you think about all the things she’s done through her philanthropy, she’s a one of a kind person, I’ve never met anybody like her. She’s just one of the finest people I know.”

Parton also sponsors a $15 000 scholarship awarded to a student from each high school in Sevier County. One of the requirements for getting that scholarship was to answer an essay question that asked: “How are you similar to Dolly Parton?”

The Dolly memorabilia isn’t confined to museums and public attractions like Dolly Parton Dinner Theatre. Below is the living room in the home of Patric Parkey and Harrell Gabehart.

Without fact-checking, I’m pretty confident in calling Parkey and Gabehart the biggest Dolly Parton fans on earth. Every surface of their three-story home is occupied by Dolly-related objects, from blankets to wigs to dolls to Pepsi bottles. They even have her old bed and a chunk of the house she grew up in. They estimate that they’ve spent a quarter of a million dollars on Dolly stuff.

And yes, those are Dolly Parton mannequins in the background.

Dolly’s image can be found immortalised on number plates:

A statue of Parton takes pride of place in the centre of town:

Here’s a letter from Ronald Reagan to Dolly that hangs in the Chasing Rainbows Museum at Dollywood, a Dolly Parton theme park:

A Dolly-themed bathroom:

The Chasing Rainbows museum in Dollywood featuring some of Dolly’s iconic looks:

Finally, even the signage is Dolly-themed.

Thanks for readin’. I will always love you.

Just not as much as this town loves Dolly Parton.

[source:vice]