@ so ensley Ohhhh I have said that more times than I can count. 😜🙈 Times were so simple back in 70s/80s/90s n I took so many things/people for granted. 🤦🤦🤦 I miss them yrs so much it hurts. 😭😭😭
I started going to Gatlinburg when I was 18 months old. We continued this tradition until 2017 when my parents were no longer able to travel. My dad passed away in January 2022. I will always treasure our memories of these days. I continue to go to this day.
I didn't realize Gatlinburg in 1911 was comparable in beauty to Cade's Cove. Sometimes progress isn't, if you know what I mean. This video took a lot of work, Thank You for putting it together.
I'm Zimbabwean by birth but live in Scotland now I found your channel an am so fascinated with your tales such history so glad that the happy Scots spread out to the world , the one that I absolutely love was the witch grannies still like that here up in the Highlands an remote Islands ....keep up the great posts Angie in Scotland
Makes me cry. We were married in 80 and honeymooned in Gatlinburg. Took many trips there before and after. Bought a beautiful property in another part of Tennessee that is not mountains per se but it's big Country with rivers that we can just carry our kayaks to from our front door and ride our horses for miles & miles! Tennessee is the most beautiful state to us!!!
My late wife of 47 years spent our honeymoon in Gatlinburg back in October 1971…this video is bittersweet…we both grew up in the metro Atlanta area and lived there until I accepted a transfer from NS Railway to East Tennessee in the 1980s (best decision for my family I could have ever made)…it’s been an eye opening experience to see the changes since 1971 all across the area…I’m still in disbelief that we ended up living and raising our two daughters less than 20 minutes away from the same Highway 411 that we traveled to Gatlinburg back in 1971…God is good and sometimes leads us down paths we never expect 😊😊😊…love this channel 🙏🙏🙏
I've read a few of the comments here, and have to agree with some of them. First of all, thank you for putting in all the hard work it took to compile this video! My brother & sister-in-law lived in Jacksonville, FL, and my daddy would take us to visit him about every other year. We always drove Rt.441 through Tennessee, and loved the beauty. At the time, Gatlinburg wasn’t huge. We would sometimes eat breakfast there at the beginning of our 2nd day. I've been there a few times with my husband since, and it's fun to go there, but I can only imagine my dad's reaction to how it has grown now! He would have hated it. In fact, he didn’t like how it changed through the years. Me either. But it's still a beautiful area when you get out away from the bustle.
I live 40 mims. Away and tourist not found us .there are many small old timey tpwns in east tn .just have to look for them .monroe county mc minn co cocke co greene co and many more sll beautiful and full of historx snd thinhs to do.
One of those Ogle cabins is my grandmother's grandparents home. Man, would I love to know which one. The Preston name rang a bell, but she's no longer here for me to ask. It's fascinating to see actual pictures of the places where your family lived 100+ years ago. Thank you so much for this, it actually brought tears to my eyes.
My daughter and her husband is in Pigeon Forge this weekend for the car show. I shared this video with her this morning. Thank you for sharing this with us. 👍
I started going to Gatlinburg with my family in the mid 70's. Since then, I've been back about 10 times, each time a little more disappointed with the crowds and overdevelopment. I'm now 52 and it would be just fine with me if I don't ever go back.
I loved going to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg growing up, we went every year! Now it's always so crowded and busy. Cades Cove is still one of my favorite drives!
I have always wondered about the history behind Gaitlinburg. I was tgerethis summer and it was bumperc to bumper. Superpack!!! And Hottttt!!!! Thanks for the information!
I first went to Gatlinburg in the 1950's. That's when we finally got a car that we could rely on to go from our cabin in Maggie, NC, over soco gap into Cherokee. Then thru Smoky Mt NP to Gatlinburg.
What a same about progress is good. Great photos JD, it’s just sad how a small mountain has become a total tourist trap or destination. So sad. Looks after the 40’s, people quit using horses to get around. Thanks, can’t wait for another story. You’re one of my favorites on RUclips.
Hey folks try townsend tn.nesr entrance cades cove .check it out for small town mountian town. U safe there and can walk streets without being ran over.try telliico plains tn for smaller old fashion
Ahh for the pictures of change. It’s such a beautiful area. I was fine with it till all the new stores & people started showing up. I could live the earlier hard times but not the amount of tourists 😢 Thank you for gathering all these wonderful pictures 👵🏻👩🌾❣️
Grew up over the hill in Asheville. Through my school years in the 70's and 80's Gatlinburg was one of our goto stomping grounds for fun. Many great memories live there.
I have a big picture hanging on my wall here in the Philippines of the old grist mill at Pigeon Forge I took in 1976. Have not been back there since then, but often think about the area. It was a tourist trap by then. Wonderful video and amazing old photos of back in the day. Thank you
My grandfather passed away in 1983. My grandmother had got a little money and she bought a condo timeshare on Ski mountain road and said that we would never celebrate Christmas at home again. So the week of Christmas every year we would all pack up and drive right through Gatlinburg to almost the top of ski mountain road and spend our holiday. It was fun because often it would snow, something we didn’t get much at Christmas in Roane co. We made many memories of coming back down to Gatlinburg to get our last minute Christmas gifts we needed. This tradition continued ever year from 1983 until the 2016 Gatlinburg wildfires completely destroyed the condominium. My grandmother passed away March 2020. Thank you for sharing this. Brought back some great memories.
We did a family vac june-2016 w our kids/spouses & grandson. Our daughter law was abt 6-7mo preg w our granddaughter at the time. We rented a big 3bdrm cabin on the mountain. We were there 2-3wks rite before that wildfire...I remember thinking WOW...we got lucky. Also I was so sad....bt we also did r family vaca again in 2018...bt it wasn't the same. This timr we rented a huge 4bdrm cabin on the mountain. We hvnt bn back since. I luv the country atmosphere....& the mountains its ALWAYS bn my dream/goal to live in the country n hopefully it will happen sooner than ltr!
So beautiful. I remember when the Holiday Inn went up. In the late 60s, when I started going it was always crowded even yhen, but there were still some businesses out of the way of the huge crowds. There was a restaurant at the crossroads going into the mountains near Cades Cove, I think, that had the best baked apple dumpling with cream.
We live in West Tn and we finally got to go in 90's it was off season we thought but it was packed. Couldn't find a room and this really nice restaurant owner had a house for rent on the reservation so a few miles out of town. The most beautiful place. If it wasn't for the kids I could have just stayed in the house or hiking around it. Just beautiful.
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@appalachian storyteller Me either....I have bad anxiety...use to be on meds for it. Thts y gta cabin up in the Mrs wen we went there. Me n my husband didn't even go to the strips....only to the Dixie stampede.(which I highly recommend) our kids went to the strips....we stayed at the cabin n enjoyed lukin at the mountains.
I guess I'm a Celt at heart. I drive past fancy Italian and Greek owned mansions but I never feel jealous. I'd be happy in a straw roofed shack. As long as it's dry and cozy. A tent is OK for camping, guess I'm not an Indian.
Thank You for such a wonderful 👍 history lesson. Have couple questions. Love the music 🎵 is there a way to get any of it? Also do you ever go down into the state of Kentucky? Deep into those holler hills. Would also like to see some of those.
I made my last trip to the Gatlinburg area last year. My husband and I did vacation there every year. We missed about 10 years and couldn’t wait to go last year. It’s a big city now. Developers have destroyed the beauty of once was all for a dollar. If you want a fast paced spend money exciting vacation go any time. If you are like us a want to slow down, see the beauty of mountains, rivers and wildlife go to Townsend on the other side of the mountain. They still “roll up the streets “ around 9 pm. Beautiful but sad video.
We live 30 mins from gatlinburg and avoid it like the plague. There’s so much here outside of the tourist trap that outsiders, thankfully, still don’t know about
My ex and I used to come to Gatlinburg from Michigan in the 70's. It was nothing like it is today. But that's progress. Now I live in Clinton and rarely get down to see the mountains. Embarrassing. I love the Smokey's and their history
Great video! I notice in the majority of the cabins in these historical photos the logs are not chinked. These are the original photos at the time they were occupied, not snapshots taken a century latter. Can anyone shed light on this practice?
Yes, the town is ruined, so is Pigeon Forge. My family has been going there since the late 1950's. Now we tent camp at Elkmont campground in the park. My mother and daddy loved Gatlinburg, and my wife and children and grandchildren also. Now we only go into Gatlinburg to eat pancakes and buy candy on our way back home. Years ago you only met the very nicest people in Gatlinburg, now it has a large percentage of common trashy people.
Some times I wish there was a way we could go back in time.
Indeed
I wish it everyday
Yes. But only for visits.
When I visited beautiful East Tennessee I absolutely wished that Gatlinberg could go back in time to the beauty and community of earlier times.
@ so ensley
Ohhhh I have said that more times than I can count. 😜🙈
Times were so simple back in 70s/80s/90s n I took so many things/people for granted.
🤦🤦🤦
I miss them yrs so much it hurts. 😭😭😭
I started going to Gatlinburg when I was 18 months old. We continued this tradition until 2017 when my parents were no longer able to travel. My dad passed away in January 2022. I will always treasure our memories of these days. I continue to go to this day.
Great memories, thank you for sharing
You done well. I went for probaly my last time I 2017 with my mother. See passed in 2019 at 97.
I didn't realize Gatlinburg in 1911 was comparable in beauty to Cade's Cove. Sometimes progress isn't, if you know what I mean. This video took a lot of work, Thank You for putting it together.
Thank you my friend
I'm Zimbabwean by birth but live in Scotland now I found your channel an am so fascinated with your tales such history so glad that the happy Scots spread out to the world , the one that I absolutely love was the witch grannies still like that here up in the Highlands an remote Islands ....keep up the great posts Angie in Scotland
Thank you Angie! Greetings from East Tennessee
Makes me cry. We were married in 80 and honeymooned in Gatlinburg. Took many trips there before and after. Bought a beautiful property in another part of Tennessee that is not mountains per se but it's big Country with rivers that we can just carry our kayaks to from our front door and ride our horses for miles & miles! Tennessee is the most beautiful state to us!!!
My late wife of 47 years spent our honeymoon in Gatlinburg back in October 1971…this video is bittersweet…we both grew up in the metro Atlanta area and lived there until I accepted a transfer from NS Railway to East Tennessee in the 1980s (best decision for my family I could have ever made)…it’s been an eye opening experience to see the changes since 1971 all across the area…I’m still in disbelief that we ended up living and raising our two daughters less than 20 minutes away from the same Highway 411 that we traveled to Gatlinburg back in 1971…God is good and sometimes leads us down paths we never expect 😊😊😊…love this channel 🙏🙏🙏
❤️ 💜
Thank you...1968 was the first year i was there..in 1st grade.. We went ever year till 1981 with my parents ...
Its a magical place for folks all across America.
I've read a few of the comments here, and have to agree with some of them. First of all, thank you for putting in all the hard work it took to compile this video! My brother & sister-in-law lived in Jacksonville, FL, and my daddy would take us to visit him about every other year. We always drove Rt.441 through Tennessee, and loved the beauty. At the time, Gatlinburg wasn’t huge. We would sometimes eat breakfast there at the beginning of our 2nd day. I've been there a few times with my husband since, and it's fun to go there, but I can only imagine my dad's reaction to how it has grown now! He would have hated it. In fact, he didn’t like how it changed through the years. Me either. But it's still a beautiful area when you get out away from the bustle.
Well said, we live about 30 mins away in a spot the tourists haven’t found yet
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller Good! Here's hoping they don't!
I live 40 mims. Away and tourist not found us .there are many small old timey tpwns in east tn .just have to look for them .monroe county mc minn co cocke co greene co and many more sll beautiful and full of historx snd thinhs to do.
One of those Ogle cabins is my grandmother's grandparents home. Man, would I love to know which one. The Preston name rang a bell, but she's no longer here for me to ask. It's fascinating to see actual pictures of the places where your family lived 100+ years ago. Thank you so much for this, it actually brought tears to my eyes.
❤️
My daughter and her husband is in Pigeon Forge this weekend for the car show. I shared this video with her this morning. Thank you for sharing this with us. 👍
❤️
I started going to Gatlinburg with my family in the mid 70's. Since then, I've been back about 10 times, each time a little more disappointed with the crowds and overdevelopment. I'm now 52 and it would be just fine with me if I don't ever go back.
Wise man- we live outside of that area- it’s a tourist trap
So True man......I,m 49.
I loved going to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg growing up, we went every year! Now it's always so crowded and busy. Cades Cove is still one of my favorite drives!
It’s a special place
I have to tell ya. I couldn't hardly wait until tonight, so I could come back, and watch more of this channel! It brings me great peace ❤️
Thank you so much for your support
Thanks for this. My father was born on Roaring Fork before it was a national park, and our family graveyard is up there.
❤️
I have always wondered about the history behind Gaitlinburg.
I was tgerethis summer and it was bumperc to bumper.
Superpack!!! And Hottttt!!!!
Thanks for the information!
❤️
I first went to Gatlinburg in the 1950's. That's when we finally got a car that we could rely on to go from our cabin in Maggie, NC, over soco gap into Cherokee. Then thru Smoky Mt NP to Gatlinburg.
❤️
Love your videos often share wiřh others .i 74 and they bring back great me.mories of growing up.
Thank you ❤️
What a same about progress is good. Great photos JD, it’s just sad how a small mountain has become a total tourist trap or destination. So sad. Looks after the 40’s, people quit using horses to get around. Thanks, can’t wait for another story. You’re one of my favorites on RUclips.
Thanks so much Denise, new story coming Saturday morning, appreciate you!
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller yeah!!
Hey folks try townsend tn.nesr entrance cades cove .check it out for small town mountian town. U safe there and can walk streets without being ran over.try telliico plains tn for smaller old fashion
I really love the vintage picture show. Thank you
thank you!
Ahh for the pictures of change. It’s such a beautiful area. I was fine with it till all the new stores & people started showing up. I could live the earlier hard times but not the amount of tourists 😢
Thank you for gathering all these wonderful pictures 👵🏻👩🌾❣️
Thank you Dee
Grew up over the hill in Asheville. Through my school years in the 70's and 80's Gatlinburg was one of our goto stomping grounds for fun. Many great memories live there.
Thanks for sharing friend
I remember as a kid going to Gatlinburg and pigeon forge was nothing but farm land.
Yup, not anymore
The 80's and 90's great and happy remembers that i will never forget 😊😅😂
me too
It looked awsome back in the 50s & 60s.
absolutely, first time I ever saw it in person as a kid was the 1980s, even then it was magical... now I live 40 mins away and avoid it at all costs
Amen. The wife just loves the national park with the old homesteads. Wish there were more of them preserved to see.
@@jamesdavis9774 me too my friend
I HAVE NOT BEEN THERE IN A LONG TIME. MISS IT ! GREAT VIDEO !!
Yes ma’am, lots of memories there
Wow, that one brought a tear to my eye. I have been going there since I was 13. I wish that place never would have happened.
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Time goes by, PROGRESS enjoyed again JD
Thanks so much!
Love the old pictures of what Gatlinburg USED to be. Now all the moonshine & CBD have taken over.
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That was great thanks for sharing
Thank you!
Awesome story.. I love history about Tennessee but especially East Tennessee ❤️
Yes sir
East Tennessee has a very interesting history
Those are wonderful history pictures. I really enjoyed them thank you so much God bless you.
Thank you 🙏
I have a big picture hanging on my wall here in the Philippines of the old grist mill at Pigeon Forge I took in 1976. Have not been back there since then, but often think about the area. It was a tourist trap by then.
Wonderful video and amazing old photos of back in the day. Thank you
My Wife is from legaspi city in bicol
@the silent generation
I agree. ✌
Wonderful pics & video footage for it/them being so old. 💘
My grandfather passed away in 1983. My grandmother had got a little money and she bought a condo timeshare on Ski mountain road and said that we would never celebrate Christmas at home again. So the week of Christmas every year we would all pack up and drive right through Gatlinburg to almost the top of ski mountain road and spend our holiday. It was fun because often it would snow, something we didn’t get much at Christmas in Roane co. We made many memories of coming back down to Gatlinburg to get our last minute Christmas gifts we needed. This tradition continued ever year from 1983 until the 2016 Gatlinburg wildfires completely destroyed the condominium. My grandmother passed away March 2020. Thank you for sharing this. Brought back some great memories.
Great memories
Hey neighbor. From over here in Morgan Co.
We did a family vac june-2016 w our kids/spouses & grandson. Our daughter law was abt 6-7mo preg w our granddaughter at the time. We rented a big 3bdrm cabin on the mountain. We were there 2-3wks rite before that wildfire...I remember thinking WOW...we got lucky. Also I was so sad....bt we also did r family vaca again in 2018...bt it wasn't the same. This timr we rented a huge 4bdrm cabin on the mountain. We hvnt bn back since. I luv the country atmosphere....& the mountains its ALWAYS bn my dream/goal to live in the country n hopefully it will happen sooner than ltr!
Incredible!
thank you!
So beautiful. I remember when the Holiday Inn went up. In the late 60s, when I started going it was always crowded even yhen, but there were still some businesses out of the way of the huge crowds. There was a restaurant at the crossroads going into the mountains near Cades Cove, I think, that had the best baked apple dumpling with cream.
Great memories
My mom and I loved this, beautiful pictures
Thank you so much :)
You have such a wonderful gift as a story teller. Your manner is so engaging and delightfully told. The tale tells the tail of your passion.
Thank you so much my friend ❤️
We live in West Tn and we finally got to go in 90's it was off season we thought but it was packed. Couldn't find a room and this really nice restaurant owner had a house for rent on the reservation so a few miles out of town. The most beautiful place. If it wasn't for the kids I could have just stayed in the house or hiking around it. Just beautiful.
yes ma'am, beautiful area
Very cool
Thank you for watching my channel. please consider subscribing for future videos!
These stories and pictures are awesome!
Glad you like them!
Great photo roll J.D. thanks!
Thank you!
If these mountains could talk the stories that they could tell.
Indeed
SO BEAUTIFUL !!
Yes indeed- so different in the beginning! I would have loved to have lived then
Thank you . Nice to learn about this history
Thank you my friend
What might be very interesting is that where possible, camera position and angles of some of the old pictures, could be duplicated in present day.
❤️
Help support the preservation of Appalachian history by Subscribing to this channel. Support this channel by clicking the "Thanks" Heart above or by visiting www.theappalachianstoryteller.com Follow me on Facebook facebook.com/theappalachianstoryteller
THANK YOU
Your welcome 🙏
WONDERFUL THANK YOU
Thank you my friend I appreciate your support
Awesome thanks…
👍🏼
I miss the old days. The 2021 photo was a nightmare to me- crazy looking people and a lot of them.
Indeed- I personally don’t like crowds like that so it would not be a vacation to me- it would be torture
@appalachian storyteller
Me either....I have bad anxiety...use to be on meds for it.
Thts y gta cabin up in the Mrs wen we went there. Me n my husband didn't even go to the strips....only to the Dixie stampede.(which I highly recommend) our kids went to the strips....we stayed at the cabin n enjoyed lukin at the mountains.
I guess I'm a Celt at heart. I drive past fancy Italian and Greek owned mansions but I never feel jealous. I'd be happy in a straw roofed shack. As long as it's dry and cozy. A tent is OK for camping, guess I'm not an Indian.
Well said
Thank You for such a wonderful 👍 history lesson. Have couple questions. Love the music 🎵 is there a way to get any of it? Also do you ever go down into the state of Kentucky? Deep into those holler hills. Would also like to see some of those.
Some of the music I recorded myself, some is from the RUclips audio library. Ill be in Kentucky filming soon!
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller thank you for getting back. Will be waiting for Kentucky soon.So many fond happy memories of the hils !
I made my last trip to the Gatlinburg area last year. My husband and I did vacation there every year. We missed about 10 years and couldn’t wait to go last year. It’s a big city now. Developers have destroyed the beauty of once was all for a dollar.
If you want a fast paced spend money exciting vacation go any time. If you are like us a want to slow down, see the beauty of mountains, rivers and wildlife go to Townsend on the other side of the mountain. They still “roll up the streets “ around 9 pm.
Beautiful but sad video.
We live 30 mins from gatlinburg and avoid it like the plague. There’s so much here outside of the tourist trap that outsiders, thankfully, still don’t know about
My ex and I used to come to Gatlinburg from Michigan in the 70's. It was nothing like it is today. But that's progress. Now I live in Clinton and rarely get down to see the mountains. Embarrassing. I love the Smokey's and their history
indeed, its changed a lot
Thst train in elkmont area above gatlinburg now area in great smokey mtns. Park
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Hey Jd I’m getting around to getting caught up on videos
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How ironic that moonshine stills were confiscated & now moonshine is sold all over the Gatlinburg area. We’ve gone backwards in time. Strange.
Yup, things are suddenly ok when the government makes money
Great video!
I notice in the majority of the cabins in these historical photos the logs are not chinked. These are the original photos at the time they were occupied, not snapshots taken a century latter.
Can anyone shed light on this practice?
These are original to the dates listed on each picture
Have you made a video showing the then and now Gatlinburg?,
not yet, this video shows the complete history of then and now in a progression of photos
@@TheAppalachianStoryteller thanks for the reply, we enjoy the video’s
@@williamsutton8198 thanks my friend
Homer Bales is my childrens 8th cousin 2x removed. I was thinkin he might be my cousin, Polly Bales is my great great great gramma. But I guess not.
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Hey 👋
👋
Its sad that a nice little town with beautiful country side got commercially taking over
agreed
We sure did ruin this once slice of heaven.
💯
Yes, the town is ruined, so is Pigeon Forge. My family has been going there since the late 1950's. Now we tent camp at Elkmont campground in the park. My mother and daddy loved Gatlinburg, and my wife and children and grandchildren also. Now we only go into Gatlinburg to eat pancakes and buy candy on our way back home. Years ago you only met the very nicest people in Gatlinburg, now it has a large percentage of common trashy people.
Just a note. In at least 2 photos you note Gatlinburg in the 40s. And showing on the street prominently is a 1950 Ford. Maybe a 49! Just sayin.
proof of a glitch in the matrix
Eastern Kentucky could have been like gatlinberg but because of greed from coal companies many mountains have been distroyed forever
Indeed