East Tennessee

HISTORY OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK In 1904, a librarian from St. Louis named Horace Kephart came to the Smokies for a respite to restore his health. Kephart found that large-scale logging was decimating the land and disrupting the lives of the people. As the years progressed, he promoted preserving the Smokies as a national park. In the 1920s, prominent Knoxville residents took up the cause and formed a citizens' organization. The National Park Service was looking for park Read more [...]

KNOXVILLE Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the state. Of Tennessee's four major cities, Knoxville is second oldest only to Nashville. Knoxville also was the state's first capital when Tennessee was admitted into the Union in 1796. One of Knoxville's nicknames is The Marble City. In the early 20th century, a number of quarries were active in the city, supplying Tennessee pink marble to much of the country. Knoxville is home to the University of Tennessee's main campus. Read more [...]

DOUGLAS LAKE Douglas Lake is located in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Surrounded by mountains and rolling hills, Douglas Lake offers an array of activities year around including boating, camping, fishing and swimming. Douglas Dam is a man-made dam on the French Broad River in Sevier County and is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Douglas Dam reservoir forms Douglas Lake. During WWII electrical power was needed for national defense. In 1941 President Roosevelt asked Congress Read more [...]

TOWNSEND Townsend is one of the three gateways to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the home of several museums and attractions relating to both the natural and human history of the Smoky Mountains. Townsend is commonly referred to as the "Peaceful Side of the Smokies." Townsend is situated in Tuckaleechee Cove, a name meaning "peaceful valley" given to the region by the Cherokees who lived there prior to the first white settlers. For a brief time of about 40 years, Townsend became a center Read more [...]

  KODAK Much of the history of Kodak has been verbally passed from one generation to the next. Kodak is the section of Sevier County, Tennessee known as Northview. This area was founded in 1892 and serves as a place where yesterday walks proudly alongside tomorrow. Over the past 115 years many changes have taken place in the small community known today as Kodak, Tennessee. The Post Office in Kodak began in 1892. It was to be housed in a local store built by Harvey N. Underwood. A name was Read more [...]

SEYMOUR Seymour, Tennessee is an unincorporated community which spans the boundary between Sevier and Blount counties. It is a 10 minute drive to the City of Knoxville and is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area. Though ideally situated on the outskirts of a big city atmosphere, Seymour uniquely offers its residents a majestic, scenic countryside. The town is located within 20 minutes of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Seymour area is one of the fastest Read more [...]

PITTMAN CENTER Nestled in the mountains of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park just minutes away from downtown Gatlinburg lies the quaint community of Pittman Center. This area was once known as Emerts Cove, named after its first settler and Revolutionary War veteran, Fredrick Emert. In 1919, a Methodist minister by the name of Rev. Dr. John Sevier Burnett envisioned a center to provide education and health needs. With the financial support of an upstate New York friend, Rev. Eli Pittman, Read more [...]

WEARS VALLEY Wears Valley, Tennessee is centrally located to Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Townsend and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The history of Wears Valley dates back to around 1792 when the area was discovered by a group of men from North Carolina. The men were in search of a small, quiet cove to build a home and settle. When they arrived there were no other white settlers there. These men loved the area so they settled in this beautiful valley and had the land surveyed. The land Read more [...]

  GATLINBURG The City of Gatlinburg rests on the border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along Highway 441, which connects to Cherokee, North Carolina. For centuries, Cherokee hunters used a footpath to gain access to the Smokies. Later, South Carolinian, William Ogle was the first permanent settler in the area. In the decade following, the area became known as White Oak Flats. In 1856, Gatlinburg got its name from Radford Gatlin, owner of the general store in the area, which housed Read more [...]

  SEVIERVILLE The present town of Sevierville was explored and settled sometime around 1780 by Virginian trader, Issac Thomas. Shortly afterwards in 1795, Sevierville was officially established and named in honor of the first governor of Tennessee, John Sevier. Although officially designated as Sevierville from its founding, the community was often referred to as "Forks of the Little Pigeon." This was due to the town's location at the junction of the East and West prongs of the Little Read more [...]