Roads to drive, sights to see, things to do, places to visit, tips and interesting tidbits - all about your Smoky Mountains vacation

Thinking of Staying in the Smokies?

Blue Mountain Cabins offers private cabins with nature surroundings and convenient access to many area destinations.

View Our Cabins & Check Availability

Historic

Appalachian Log Cabins - Then and Now

Appalachian log cabins came from the influence of German and Scandinavian traditions brought by settlers to the area in the 18th century. The masonry can mostly be traced to Scotch-Irish influence, and the design has a resemblance to that of English. Most logs used during that time would have been chestnut, oak, spruce, and poplar.

Keep Reading

Historic

Strange Names, Curious Places: Boogertown, Tennessee

In the foothills of the Smokies in Sevier County, Tennessee, there is a place with one of the most unusual names in the region: Boogertown. Officially tied to the historic Oldham community, the name “Boogertown” has become the far more recognizable and enduring local reference. It’s the kind of name that makes visitors slow down and ask the same question: Where did a name like Boogertown come from?

Keep Reading

Historic

Historic Structures in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is known for its scenic drives, waterfalls, and mountain views, but it is also home to one of the finest collections of preserved log structures in the eastern United States. 
From grist mills and churches to cabins and schoolhouses, these preserved sites tell the story of the families who once lived deep within the Smokies before the national park was established in the 1930s.

Keep Reading

Historic

Smoky Mountains Grist Mills and the History Behind Them

A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, or flour mill) grinds grain into flour. The term can refer to both the grinding mechanism and the building that holds it. Four grist mills remain within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mingus Mill, a half-mile from the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in North Carolina, is the grandest. Park millers still produce cornmeal in the three-story building as they tell stories of old-time mills and millers. Cable Mill in Cades Cove is a classic small mill with its picturesque waterwheel and tree-shaded millrace. It millers, too, grind grain the old-fashioned way. Ogle and Reagan mills, near Gatlinburg, are examples of the little tub mills once built along mountain streams throughout the Smokies.

Keep Reading

Historic

Smoky Mountains Moonshine - History and Today

When visiting Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, you will find numerous distilleries where you can sample and purchase authentic “white lightning”’. Up until the last decade or so, the practice was illegal, but today making moonshine is big (and legal) business. Here is some history of moonshine - an iconic part of life in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains.

Keep Reading

« Older Entries

Categories

Latest Posts

Subscribe