Mount Kephart is named after Horace Kephart, an author and early proponent of establishing a national park in the Smokies.
 The mountain was called "Mount Collins" until the USGS gave it its current name in 1931, reshifting the name "Mount Collins" to the peak between Clingmans Dome and Newfound Gap.
 Before the 1880s, Mount Kephart was known by various local names.

Mount Kephart was probably visited and measured by Arnold Guyot during his survey of the Smokies crest in the late 1850s.
 The name he used for the mountain, however, is uncertain.
 Guyot listed two mountains between Laurel Top and New (Newfound) Gap as having elevations greater than 6,000 feet (1,800 m) — Peck's Peak, which Guyot measured at 6,232 feet (1,900 m), and Mount Ocona, which Guyot measured at 6,135 feet (1,870 m).
 The former may refer to Peck's Corner, although Peck's Corner isn't between Laurel Top and Newfound Gap, and Guyot would have missed its elevation by a staggering 1,300 feet (400 m).
 Other than Mt. Kephart, the only peak between Laurel Top and Newfound Gap higher than 6,000 feet (1,800 m) is Mt. Ambler, a knob on Kephart's southwest slope.

Laura Thornborough, a writer who made many excursions into the Smokies in the 1930s, recalled a stream now known as Icewater Spring, on Kephart's south slope:
Our party reached a good spring on the Carolina side of Mt. Kephart, about three miles (5 km) from our starting point.
 It had been freshly cleaned out and lined with native rock.
 The water was clear and icy cold."

A CCC Camp operated on the mountain's southern base in the 1930s, the chimney of which remains near the head of the Kephart Prong Trail.
 During World War II, this camp was used to house conscientious objectors.
 Also in 
this area are the remains of a WPA fish hatchery built in 1936.
Mount Kephart is named after Horace Kephart, an author and early proponent of establishing a national park in the Smokies.  The mountain was called "Mount Collins" until the USGS gave it its current name in 1931, reshifting the name "Mount Collins" to the peak between Clingmans Dome and Newfound Gap.  Before the 1880s, Mount Kephart was known by various local names.
Mount Kephart was probably visited and measured by Arnold Guyot during his survey of the Smokies crest in the late 1850s.  The name he used for the mountain, however, is uncertain.  Guyot listed two mountains between Laurel Top and New (Newfound) Gap as having elevations greater than 6,000 feet (1,800 m) — Peck's Peak, which Guyot measured at 6,232 feet (1,900 m), and Mount Ocona, which Guyot measured at 6,135 feet (1,870 m).  The former may refer to Peck's Corner, although Peck's Corner isn't between Laurel Top and Newfound Gap, and Guyot would have missed its elevation by a staggering 1,300 feet (400 m).  Other than Mt. Kephart, the only peak between Laurel Top and Newfound Gap higher than 6,000 feet (1,800 m) is Mt. Ambler, a knob on Kephart's southwest slope.
Laura Thornborough, a writer who made many excursions into the Smokies in the 1930s, recalled a stream now known as Icewater Spring, on Kephart's south slope:
Our party reached a good spring on the Carolina side of Mt. Kephart, about three miles (5 km) from our starting point.  It had been freshly cleaned out and lined with native rock.  The water was clear and icy cold." 
A CCC Camp operated on the mountain's southern base in the 1930s, the chimney of which remains near the head of the Kephart Prong Trail.  During World War II, this camp was used to house conscientious objectors.  Also in 
this area are the remains of a WPA fish hatchery built in 1936.
Mount Kephart