"Those who came into White Oak Flats from the East in the early days had to come over trails through gaps in the Great Smoky ranges, for there were no wagon roads. Some came by way of the old Indian Gap - a trail that had been used by the Indians in their journeyings…others by New Found Gap, a passage a little to the northeast of the first one." Those who settled in the area faced the backbreaking tasks of clearing the land, breaking the soil, sowing and harvesting crops, felling trees and building cabins and barns as well as dealing with the harassment of hostile Indians. These original families include the Ogles, the Reagans, the Trenthams, the Whaleys, the Pinckneys, the Maples, the Clabos, the Ownbys, the Oakleys, the Kings, the Watson, the Newmans, the Bales and the Franklins. Much of this story revolves around these families and their descendants and how they made the wilderness into a settlement known as White Oak Flats. White Oak Flats became known as Gatlinburg when a post office was established in Radford Gatlin's store. The name of the office gradually came to be applied to the entire settlement. Originally an isolated community nestled at the foot of Mt. Le Conte; Gatlinburg became better known once the project of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park became a reality.

Jeanette S. Greve

(1931), 2005, CD-ROM, index, Graphic Images, Adobe Acrobat v6, PC or Mac, 148 pp.

ISBN: 9780788436796

101-CD3679