Illustration by Brainstorm
The Great Smoky Mountains, a mist-shrouded subrange of the Appalachians, dominate the landscape, as well as the history and culture, of southeast Tennessee. For more than 12,000 years, this was the land of the Cherokee people, until the mid-1700s, when European explorers, traders, and settlers began entering the area in growing numbers. Less than a century later, in 1838, the Cherokees were forcibly removed from their homes and marched west to Indian Territory on what came to be known as the Trail of Tears.
During most of the 19th century, relatively isolated and largely self-sufficient mountain homesteads dotted the region. Families grew, foraged, hunted, or made almost everything they needed. Small communities grew up in valleys and coves, but the majestic forests remained largely intact.
The invention of the band saw and the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s brought a logging boom to the mountains, and by the 1920s, much of the old-growth forest—some 80 percent—had been clearcut. In response, conservationists worked with local communities to buy out landowners and logging companies and, in 1934, to help establish Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Over the coming years, the forests would rebound, and the park would begin to draw thousands of visitors (ultimately becoming the most-visited national park in America).
Travelers through the park and the surrounding towns of Vonore, Maryville, Townsend, and Gatlinburg will discover sites associated with each of these periods and populations, encountering historic figures, local crafts, vintage tourism draws, and even a ghost town along the way.
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Photo by Whitney Tomasino
Sequoyah Birthplace Museum
Born in 1776 to a Cherokee mother and a white father, Sequoyah embraced both Native culture and the knowledge and skills of American settlers in his lifelong pursuit to create a writing system for the Cherokee people. This engaging museum in Vonore, not far from the site of Sequoyah’s boyhood village of Tuskegee, chronicles his work establishing the 87-symbol syllabary, which he introduced in 1821. This gift of literacy empowered his people to create a written constitution, pen their own treaties, document laws and faith traditions, and record their lives.
Photo by Whitney Tomasino
Sam Houston Historic Schoolhouse
The only person to have served as governor of two states (Tennessee and Texas), Sam Houston is arguably one of the most significant historical figures in 19th-century America. Discover more about his dramatic, and often turbulent, life during a visit to this 1774 schoolhouse in Maryville, regarded as the oldest one-room school in the country. In 1812, to pay off debts he’d amassed living with the Cherokees, 19-year-old Houston taught classes in this cabin, charging pupils $8 a term (the period between planting and harvest).
Courtesy of Peaceful Side Brewery
Peaceful Side Brewery
This popular Maryville brewery, which takes its name from the moniker for the quieter, less developed communities west of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is a perfect stop for lunch or a midday snack. The classic smashburger is a taproom favorite, but be sure to ask about burger specials featuring local ingredients, from heirloom tomatoes to Benton’s bacon. Add an order of pickled ramp (aka Appalachian scallion) dip served with housemade barbecue chips and, of course, a beer. You can’t go wrong with the house pilsner or IPA.
Courtesy of the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center
Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center
The undeniable draw of this living-history site in Townsend is the village featuring 13 authentic structures from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including a family cabin and several outbuildings, as well as a print shop, chapel, and moonshine still. Interpreters in period dress go about the daily tasks of early settlers, from harvesting and cooking to spinning and straightening spokes in the wheelwright shop. Not to be missed is the center’s Native American Gallery, which features millennia-old artifacts from nearby Tuckaleechee Cove, site of one of the largest archaeological digs in Tennessee history.
Wood-N-Strings Dulcimer Shop
Whether you call it the Appalachian dulcimer or mountain dulcimer, this hourglass-shaped, lap-held, stringed folk instrument is as much a part of the region’s history as Davy Crockett and moonshine. And with nearly 50 years crafting his own four-string dulcimers from local woods like sassafras, cherry, and walnut, Mike Clemmer has become part of that history too. Make time to stop into Clemmer’s Townsend store to try plucking a few dulcet tones yourself and to meet Mike, his wife, Connie, or maybe their daughter, Cherit, who just might reward you with a short demonstration and brief history of this rich musical tradition.
Courtesy Tennessee Tourism
Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro
Plan on dinner—or at least happy hour drinks and an appetizer or two—at this acclaimed Townsend restaurant on the 38-acre grounds of Dancing Bear Lodge, a collection of upscale cabins and cottages. Start with a smoky Man in Black made with Single Barrel Select Buffalo Trace bourbon and black walnut–sorghum syrup, and the Appalachian charcuterie board, featuring Benton’s 24-month aged country ham, benne seed bacon, and housemade sausage. For dinner, opt for the rainbow trout with corn relish or the pork chop with charred vegetables and spoonbread.
Elkmont Ghost Town
The Elkmont region of the national park lies between Townsend and Gatlinburg just off Little River Gorge Road (look for the signs to Elkmont Campground). The site of a frontier settlement known as Little River in the 1800s, it was transformed into a bustling logging camp at the turn of the 20th century. After much of the land was cleared, the railroad that once transported lumber out of the mountains began bringing up wealthy families who built vacation cottages. Leases on the 70-plus structures expired in 1992, and the park service committed to preserving 19 buildings. Today, visitors can tour the remnants of the former resort town and walk the haunting ruins of the nearby Wonderland Hotel.
Courtesy of Historic Rocky Waters Inn
Historic Rocky Waters Inn
Perhaps no Smoky Mountain lodging establishment better reflects the evolution of the area as a tourist destination than this Gatlinburg inn. The property, originally made up of eight vacation cabins, was transformed into a 16-room motel in the 1930s following the establishment of the national park. Since its 1935 opening as Rocky Waters, it’s hosted generations of vacationing families, and following extensive renovations, the legendary property reopened a few months ago as a boutique hotel. In addition to an enviable location along the Little Pigeon River, polished guest rooms, and an outstanding staff, the property has rolled out an impressive on-site restaurant and bar, the Heirloom Room. Appalachian-inspired breakfasts and dinners include standouts such as a spicy eggs Benedict featuring homemade biscuits, seared pork belly, crawfish hollandaise, and a smoked, chili-rubbed venison loin. For a nightcap, choose from the expansive collection of allocated bourbons and whiskeys—the largest in Gatlinburg, numbering more than 80 and representing selections from every corner of the globe.
Courtesy of Tennessee Tourism
Pancake Pantry
A mainstay of the logging industry that once flourished in the surrounding mountains, pancakes were an inexpensive way to feed hungry lumberjacks. Today, pancake houses abound in the Smokies, but one towers above the rest. Opened in 1960 as Gatlinburg’s first dedicated pancake restaurant, this iconic breakfast (and lunch) joint continues to serve old-fashioned mountain favorites such as buttermilk and buckwheat pancakes with heaps of whipped butter and plenty of hot syrup, as well as a range of crepes dusted with powdered sugar and topped with whipped cream. Expect a line out front, but trust that it moves fast.
Photo by Whitney Tomasino
Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum
Andrea Ludden, the founder of this colorful Gatlinburg museum, began amassing her collection of novelty shakers after picking up a pepper mill at a garage sale in the mid-’80s. An archaeologist, Ludden had always been interested in the way ordinary objects tell the story of a culture or time. In 2002, she decided to share her finds with the public. Today, the labyrinth-like gallery showcases 20,000 pairs from around the world, organized by color, material, or theme, as well as exhibits on the history of salt and pepper.
Photo by Whitney Tomasino
Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen
What began in 1950 as a wholesale taffy-making operation in the garage of Dan and Peggy Dych is today a favorite stop for vacationing families in Gatlinburg, now operated by the third and fourth generations of the Dych family. In addition to the original taffy logs—currently available in 33 flavors, from molasses and sassafras to watermelon and wild cherry—the shop sells pound upon pound of homemade chocolates and other treats. Visitors crowd the glass cases to stock up on boxes of fudge, brittle, bark, and creams, as well as confections such as pecan divinity and signature black bears, turtle-like candies featuring nuts and caramel and coated in dark chocolate.
Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine
Scotch-Irish pioneers brought their whiskey-making know-how with them when they settled in the Smoky Mountains, substituting corn for the traditional barley. The result was a powerful, 100-plus-proof alcohol often produced by the light of the moon to elude taxation—and later Prohibition—and dubbed “moonshine.” In 2010, following changes to state law, Ole Smoky became the first federally licensed distillery in East Tennessee. Stop by the Holler in Gatlinburg for a tour of the country’s most visited moonshine operation and sidle up for an $8 tasting of 12 shots, including favorite flavors such as apple pie, lemon drop, mint chocolate chip, and butter pecan.
This article appears in the Fall 2024 issue of Southbound.
