Churches of the Smokies by Charles W. Maynard

This small booklet describes churches which were in existence when the Great Smoky Mountain National Park began whose structures remain today. While the author does mention the total number of churches which were on the North Carolina side when the lands were purchased from settlers, the author did not actually research the number on the Tennessee side, making simply an estimate. I would have liked to have seen a listing of all the churches that had been on the park lands, even if the ones no longer there were not treated further. I found the coverage of the churches to be uneven. Having read church minutes from the earlier periods, I know that the author could have found many more stories that would have been interesting to readers and expanded the book if he had done further research. It seems to be a book that was primarily written for the tourist audience, and unfortunately about all one gets is the information that would be presented to tourists by a guide. The information contained is very readable, but I would have preferred to have known a little more about the churches and their members. 3 stars.

The Land of the Smokies by Tim Hollis

This is a history of tourism in the Great Smoky Mountains area, primarily in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville areas in Tennessee and Cherokee area in North Carolina. However, the author did include comments on places in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina in the Boone and Blowing Rock areas and a chapter on attractions in the Chattanooga area. It was a fun trip down memory lane. While I'm too young to remember what it was like before the mid-1960s, we had ViewMaster slides, postcards, and other memorabilia around my house depicting those areas then so much of it was not foreign to me. It is interesting to see how changes have been made over the years and also, since I live in the area, to recognize changes from the time the book was published until now. While no book can ever be comprehensive in its treatment of the area's tourist attractions, this one does a good job of making it interesting. There are lots of vintage photographs and advertisements included throughout. My one criticism is that the author often left things that could have probably been tracked down better ambiguous. I suspect he was dealing with publication deadlines, but it left me with a feeling that there were still things that needed to have been researched before the book went to print. In spite of that flaw, it is still a great trip down Memory Lane for persons familiar with the Smokies. 3.5 stars.

A Few More Photos from Today

Taken near Gatlinburg inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This photo was taken at the Sugarlands Visitor Center inside the National Park at Gatlinburg.

A mountain stream at the Chimneys Picnic Area.

Wildflowers at Newfound Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina border.

Wildflowers at Newfound Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina border.

To see additional photos, visit my Photobucket album.

Fall Foliage in the Smokies

I spent the early part of the afternoon driving through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I started in Gatlinburg and went over to Cherokee. I ran into a little rain (and a lot of fog) before I got to the highest elevations. These are just a few of the more than 100 photos I took today.

Gatlinburg, as seen from the Gatlinburg Overlook, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Foliage at the tunnel on the Tennessee side of the mountain.

At Newfound Gap along the Tennessee/North Carolina state line.

Some of the best foliage was on the North Carolina side of the mountain. At this overlook, every photographer with his or her tripod was quite busy taking in the scenery.

The Mingus Mill near the park visitor center in North Carolina.

A Very Interesting Book

As many of you know, I'm a librarian. As I was cataloging some of our newest additions, I came across a very interesting little book entitled The Walker Sisters of Little Greenbrier by Rose Houk. This is a delightful little full-color book of about 60 pages that talks about the lives of Margaret, Polly, Martha, Nancy, Louisa, and Hettie Walker who lived in the settlement of Little Greenbrier which is inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park today. Some of you may have visited the Little Greenbrier schoolhouse inside the park. It's "chock full" of family photos, family household item photos, and a nice little history of the family that is interesting because it includes stuff from their daily lives and environment. There are even some poems that Louisa wrote included. I may have to purchase my own copy!

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Podcast & Blog

I love this blog that I just discovered via a link on the Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association's site.

Heat

Tonight's local newscast is being partly broadcast from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park because of a telethon that begins at 7 p.m. One of the "Live at Five" anchors is at the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg where the temperature is between 97 and 98 according to the handheld instrument she had in hand. The chief meteorologist for the station is atop Clingmans Dome in the park which has apparently at least tied a record high of 72. The temperature (depending on where the clouds are at the time) has been between 69.4 and 72 during the broadcast. I'm tempted to get in my car and drive to the cooler temperatures, but a lot of other folks probably have the same idea. 70 degree temperature sounds wonderful to me!

Update: The telethon has been very educational. If you wish to donate to Friends of the Smokies, you can do so through their web site. The park does not have an admission fee so it relies on fund-raisers such as this and the little donation boxes throughout the park to make improvements. The last segment was just talking about how they have to airlift some of the materials to renovate the shelters on the trails. They've raised $178,161 as of 7:45 p.m. and want to raise $200,000 by 8:00 p.m. Of course, they'll take donations any time!

Update 2: They did it. The last total was over $203,000 before the telethon was over. They are still taking calls. This figure breaks last year's record of over $202,000.

The Gatlinburg Ogles

I've been reading The Story of Gatlinburg by Jeanette S. Greve (Nashville: Premium Press America, 2003) which was first published in 1931 as the National Park was under development. Here in East Tennessee, particularly in Sevier County, the surname Ogle is quite common. I've often wondered about the origin of the name, and this little book gave an account that actually brought a little amused smile to my face. The family's surname apparently was originally Oglesby and of English origin. After they began attending school, according to one old-timer of the Gatlinburg area, they decided Ogle was easier to spell so they shortened the surname.

Maybe we Thorntons should shorten our name to Thorn. It would be easier to spell, and people would be less likely to forget the "n" they leave out when they so often misspell it. It makes me wonder if those Oglesbys got tired of folks spelling their surname "Oglsby" so they decided to force them to put in the "e" by shortening the surname. Perhaps we'll never know the truth of the matter, but it does lend itself to some interesting speculation.

Elkmont

Dave has a great post on Elkmont, a former town in the Great Smoky Mountains.