History of Gatlinburg TN

Originally called White Oak Flats, Gatlinburg, TN is a vacation resort located in Sevier County, just across the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Cherokee, NC.  U.S. Highway 441 connects the two towns.  Less than 7 miles away is the infamous town of Pigeon Forge TN, another vacation getaway for millions of visitors each year.

Entailing just 10 square miles, Gatlinburg TN offers one of America's best places to relax, have fun, and enjoy living.  It is surround by high mountains. 

Centuries before European settlers arrived in Gatlinburg TN, native Americans - and chiefly the Cherokee - used the area as hunting and trading grounds.  Following what is now Indian Gap Trail (now Highway 441), they traveled back and forth, undisturbed, until European hunters, trappers and fur traders arrived in the 1700s.

Though many hunters and trappers moved through the area, it wasn't until William Ogle, from Edgefield, South Carolina, arrived in 1801 or 1802 to build a cabin.  The local Cherokee helped him prepare the logs for the cabin and Ogle returned to Edgefield to retrieve his family.  While there, he died from Malaria.  His wife, Martha and her brother Peter Huskey returned via the Indian Gap Trail in 1806 and erected a cabin from the prepared logs.  Shortly thereafter, a number of people began moving to the area - many of them Revolutionary War soldiers who were cashing in their 50-acre deeds for wartime service.

In 1856, Radford Gatlin set up a post office in his general store, under the name Gatlinburg.  During the 1880's logging became a booming business for Gatlinburg, thanks primarily to the newly invented band saw.  Logging continued through the early 1900s and conservationists lobbied Congress to purchase land from the Little River Lumber Company in 1926 to form a National Park.  Their theory was, if the West had Yosemite and Yellowstone, then the eastern United States needed one too. 

The first hotel arrived in Gatlinburg TN in 1916, followed shortly by the Le Conte Lodge in 1926.  In 1934 the Great Smoky Mountains National Park became a reality.  During the 40 or 50 years prior to the opening of the park, the greater Gatlinburg area was a conglomerate of about 600 individuals who lived in log cabins.  They were serviced by a church, a blacksmith shop, and general store in the town proper.  After the park opened, more than 40,000 visitors transcended the area in less than a year.  The following year, a half million visited the park.  By 1940, the cost of one acre of land in the area was $40.  Ten years later, that figure had grown to $8,000.  Many an early settler became rich nearly overnight.

Gatlinburg TN sees 15 million visitors per year.

While in Gatlinburg, you can stay at one of the many cabins, hotels, bed & breakfast's, condos, or inns.  You may also prefer to sleep under the moonlight at one of the campgrounds.  When you're ready to have some fun, try a stroll down the Gatlinburg Parkway, where you can visit a number of attractions, theatres, and shops.  Don't forget to relive the past at Cades Cove, and of course get your thrills at Dollywood.

Shops and stores line both sides of Gatlinburg's downtown stretch.