Ogle, Rocky Top and Forgotten Hotels | A Short History of Early Gatlinburg Landmarks 

What are your earliest memories of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and the Smoky Mountains? I would love to hear your stories!

Mountain View Hotel was beautiful, especially to a young bride and groom on their honeymoon in 1972. The dining room, service and meals were memories not forgotten.

When I was a kid we lived in Kingsport. A friend of Dad's hosted out family for Sunday brunch at the Greystone every Spring for a few years up until 1963 when I was 12. I remember the biscuits & gravy and rocking on the front porch. Living in Knoxville in the early 70s I occasionally drove my little Spitfire up to Gatlinburg. There was a little bar tucked off on a sidestreet. They had a porch built over a creek where you could sip a beer & listen to local folk singers. Those were the days, my friend! Thanks for your well-done video.

I hate to say it but change is inevitable and progress never stops. I have a lot of great memories from the smokies. Way too many to share so hold on to your memories and never let change take that away.

I remember as a kid in the 80's, a domed concrete 'house of the future', Bunny Golf, The Brass Lantern restaurant, the bobsleds at Oberg, Hillbilly Golf, and the hunted mansion. Some of those things still exist.

I've been viewing all of your Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg & Smoky Mountains videos, and this by far is my favorite. My wife & I are selling our Rochester NY house & moving to Newport TN where we are building our retirement log cabin. After at least a dozen trips visiting that area, East Tennessee just feels like home to us. Thank you for posting this video, sharing the timeless history & culture of the Smoky Mountain region. It's truly a shame most of those grand hotels were lost in the name of "progress".

Very good video my friend! I'm watching this on the balcony (porch) of room 237 of the Gatlinburg Inn. Park Vista hotel directly in front of me at 12 o'clock. Space Needle at 1 o'clock. I have photos of me in the pool in 1974'ish. Today I'm 57. Lots of good memories here and missing my parents.

The first time my father brought me to the city was 1955. I think the best time when the Open Harth, the Burning Bush and the Brass Langhtern were still going.

I just joined your channel from YITS. Our retirement home was built up by Park Vista in 1974. We bought it in 2012. It was burned to ashes in the fires of 2016. We rebuilt it. We are spending our 2nd Christmas here now. I came here as a kid. Early on I knew the beauty and fell in love with these mountains. I'm retired now and yes, it has changed alot. But the magic in these mountains isn't just the scenery, it's the people. You did such an awesome job with this video. I'm glad to see the history shared the way you did. Thank you for sharing that with us.

My first trip to Gatlinburg was in 1979 and I miss the way it was in the 80s.

Gatlinburg might be bustling and crazy busy, but it will always hold many great memories for me and my family. My husband and I got married at Elkmont in the National park and we visit at least a few times a year as we don’t live very far away in Jonesborough TN. Also, there’s an abandoned chair lift that was a part of an old amusement park near hillbilly golf. There’s a parking lot there now but if you walk to the back you will see the chairs still there in the trees

Thanks Chad.

Very interesting Chad. Like how you include the history of Gatlinburg in the video.

Chad: I followed up with a call to the Chamber of Commerce today and was informed that the former MountainView Hotel property had been purchased by Anakeesta ("rising smoke") as an amusement hub now in operation. While the sleeping/eating quarters are gone, the memories remain. CB.

William and Martha Ogle are my 5th great grandparents.

Started coming to gsm in 90's.brought our kids until they got married and they still go. Started bringing grandkids .our youngest grand daughter still goes. We stayed at four season on parkway. Was Ramada inn at one time.

Chad... I am a huge fan of Gatlinburg and have multiple history books on the area and I just wanted to say that this video is by far the historical video of the area on RU-vid! I have been going with my wife and kids for close to 20 years and can honestly say that this is my favorite place! Something about those mountains is just magical!

Thank you for sharing I grew up in the area as well in the eighties and nineties I remember when the original Ripley's Museum burned down

I started going to Gatlinburg as a kid in the 50s since my mother preferred the mountains to the beach. It was a tourist trap then and it still is😂. It is such a miserable drive through the town that we now stay in Pigeon Forge which is much better. I still love the Smokies and Cades Cove. Have stayed in the Greystone and Zoders years ago.

Great historic information..enjoyed the vudeo!

I agree. Started coming in the 60's. Good changes and not so good changes. Ogle's, Maples and Zoder's.. Greystone, writen about by Mary Stewart. Rebel Corner. Oh, the memories! The Howard Johnson's. I hated to see the Twin Islands go. 😕

I was just in Gatlinburg yesterday!

back when Silver Dollar City was around. You could fire old colt navy 1851 replica pistols. one shot 1 dollar, 3 shots 5 dollars. Early 80s. Did you do that? Best part of the park, to me.

Loved this! Thank you

I wish i had been able to go as a kid but my first time was last year and recently a few weeks ago it has changed but the soul of that place is still there and as strong as ever it is beyond beautiful. I have lived in Tennessee my whole life but that place made me love this state of mine.

I lived in Gatlinburg for a short time, worked at the Hilton Hotel, The Great Smokey Mountains is second to Heaven, yes it has changed since the mid 80's when I lived there and changed again after the fires of 2016.

Greystone reminds me of Kellerman's in Dirty Dancing.

I think it is a crime those beautiful pieces of history are gone !

Chad, we are a big fan of your videos. My husband is originally from Knoxville and we try to vacation in Gatlinburg every 2 years or so as his family is still in the area (we currently live in Nebraska). I can't even begin to describe how beautiful that area of the country is. Keep making great videos!

The old places need to be saved

Thank you for this excellent video. Really enjoyed it.

Nice video. My wife and I first went to Gatlinburg right after we got married, 25 years ago and have been back numerous times. It's a great area.

The Greystone was my mom's favorite place to stay while in Gatlinburg during the 50s and 60s.

I enjoyed that. A lady that I used to work with and then the one Sirrius used to live in the Gatlinburg area and she went to a high school dance at the Greystone. We were both so busy those days that I never really got to sit down and talk to her about the Smokies and her life there , that was many years ago.

Earliest memory is in the early 1960s, with cousins from Maryville. Souvenir stands and stores sold rubber and wood tomahawks and spears .with unnatural blue, yellow and red feathers attached. I also bought a real bayonet for a British Enfield rifle which I still have. Loved stopping at The Cliff Dwellers because it bore my name. Best attraction was the wax museum located near the tourist information station not far from the Ogle Cabin. Also loved the candy shop with fresh salt water taffy. A few years later there was a place called HELL, which had ridiculous signs out from the park that said "See the Invisible Hand!" ha! And in 1980, I took my bride on our honeymoon to eat at the really fine, cosy Pioneer Inn that hung just over the side of the stream where we could sit and look at the ducks and trout when we weren't looking at each other! My wife was not interested in the tourist shops other than the mall, and we quit coming after the Pioneer Inn closed. The one thing that I remember from the late 50s and up to the 70s is that there were quaint "people sized" cozy places for tourists and travelers but they started to disappear when big tourism started and the very last time we went to Gatlinburg was in 1983 or so and had the experience of eating pancakes in the largest log cabin in the world that would seat 300. After that, we started tent camping instead of hotel visits. We never stayed in hotels in Gatlinburg but we did stay in the original Wonderland Hotel in Element, and learned what old hotels were like. Well, that's it. There is a lot more in my memories but they are about small things no one would be interested in like when I went hiking with a friend and his son and we walked Gatlinburg and my friend noticed that just about everyone had new shoes on! So we referred to Galtlinburg as the new shoe capital of the world.

So neat, thanks for sharing. I learned of your video from Will and Dawn. I’ve been visiting since 1975, now making memories with my kiddos. There’s been lots of changes but the roots run deep here.

Nice video! Thanks for sharing!! 😊👍

The first trip I remember was probably in 1962. Visited when we made trips to Chucks, Tn to visit relatives. We came to Gatlinburg a lot. When we got married in 76 we spent our honeymoon at Gatlinburg Inn and now come down at least once a year if not more. Remember Pidgeon Forge as a village. Ogles Market at the corner of River Road. County was dry, then private clubs, and now moonshine and whiskey, candle making shops everywhere, primitive wood work. Silver Dollar City. So many memories.

Thank You! We have been going to Gatlinburg for 20 years and I am always curious about old landmarks. It has changed so much in just the last 20 years and not always for the good. Still loving the mountain mall such a unique building.

Wish the Mountain View hotel was still around

Think this is my new favourite film of yours! Gatlinburg is one of my favourite holiday destinations and I have been lucky enough to have had a few holidays there. Love Tennessee and especially the Smokies. The old photos were awesome and loved the history you gave us. There is a new Greystone Lodge beside the Aquarium, I guess it was named after the original? Cheers.

This was an excellent presentation.👏👏

June Carter Cash and her first husband spent their honeymoon in The Gatlinburg Inn.

My first time visiting end of July 2020 I can’t wait to come back when have more time to explore loved anakeesta there

Brother you are the hero I didnt know I needed. This was a wonderful video

Superb! Love this video! I grew up hiking all over the smokies and totally enjoyed the video! I also worked in Pigeonforge in the late 70s at MagicWorld & Tommy Bartletts Ski, Sky and Stage Show!💕

Fantastic! I love learning about the history of places I visit. And, I know a couple spots I'll be looking for next time I'm there! (I also found you from a share on the Yankee in the South page, and just subscribed.

I noticed in jan that it seems the town views are scattered with tons of cabins especially eastgate! What a shame ! Natural beauty is leaving and greed is moving in !

Was just there Saturday actually…We stayed at the summit

This was so sad. Too much change. Same thing happened in my hometown of Franklin, TN. Can hardly recognize it anymore. Why did they move the Ogle cabin? Were they not able to leave it on the land they owned?

Sadly, I've never been to Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. They're certainly on the bucket list! Don't you wish, sometimes, that time travel was a thing? *sigh*

How come you didn’t cover the riverside motel one of the first ones.

Gatlinburg sure aint like it used to be

My mother in law is Dixie Ray Ogle.... And Archie would get welfare cheese, He said it was the best. That was over 40 yrs ago.

I was there this past weekend 4/2021. Drunk, high, wasted people on the Parkway. It was so sad. Actually, it’s disgraceful that the Chamber of Commerce would allow the Delta8 dispensers to set up shop. Honestly, I doubt I’ll ever return. I’m a Christian Conservative. I didn’t feel safe walking the Parkway.

Is it older than the walker sister cabin

Are there any remnants left at all of the old Mountain View, like part of the foundation, stone walls, etc?

Thank you. I go to Pidgeon Forge Tennessee often. I was there in August. I might stay at that Inn next time. If I go there 1st week in February do you have any suggestions? God bless.

Chad. My mom n I stayed in a Snowhite like motel , where by the cottages were built into the hills (in the woods) over looking stream. Don't remember name. Any info would be appreciated!

Just went there after 27 years. horrible. It is rack and ruin,. so sad to see it is changed. What a disgrace. The mountains are still beautiful tho. Will never go again.

Love the video and absolutely HATE what so called progress has done to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge!

Kinda sucks the history is being lost. My memory from 78 I was 8. Walking down the strip in Gatlinburg & my Dad put a dime into a machine to play a chicken in tic tac toe & lost.