On the evening of September 8, 1936, during his re-election campaign, President Franklin D. Roosevelt left Washington, D.C. and traveled overnight by special train to Knoxville, Tennessee. The presidential party was greeted at the Southern Railway Depot by state and local dignitaries at 9:00 a.m. the next morning. Cheering crowds packed the streets of Knoxville as the motorcade left town en route to Great Smoky Mountains, and just past ten the procession entered Sevierville. For the occasion, Sevier County schools were closed and downtown was decorated with American flags and red, white, and blue bunting. It was the city's first visit by a sitting president. Sheriff Earnest R. Conner, his deputies, and Police Chief Newt Bogart cleared the streets of parked cars. The first motorcade vehicle carried Secret Service agents, followed by the car carrying the president, his son John, and Governor Hill McAllister, with other dignitaries behind them. Church bells pealed and the courthouse bell tower rang as crowds lined the sidewalks and waved American flags when the motorcade turned onto Court Avenue. The motorcade stopped in front of the Sevierville Post Office at 133 Bruce Street so the president could meet Postmaster Ralph Murphy and ask him to join the party headed for the Smoky Mountains. Murphy then suggested an impromptu drive down Joy Street, where many residents strongly supported Roosevelt. The presidential party continued slowly through Pigeon Forge and reached Gatlinburg just before noon, where park officials and residents greeted them before they arrived at the future national park. On September 2, 1940, Roosevelt returned to Sevier County and again passed through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg on his way to Newfound Gap to officially dedicate Great Smoky Mountains National Park.