Missy Tipton Green Livres

Situated in Tuckaleechee Cove, one of several "limestone windows" on the northern base of the Smoky Mountains, is Townsend, Tennessee, also known as the "Peaceful Side of the Smokies." Native Americans were the first inhabitants of Tuckaleechee Cove. By the time the first Europeans arrived in the late 18th century, the Cherokee villages had been abandoned. In the 1880s, the lumber industry was in full swing thanks to two key innovations: the band saw and the logging railroad. With the coming of industrialization, the isolated farming community of Tuckaleechee Cove was transformed in the bustling mill town of Townsend. In 1894, E.J. Kinzel started a mountain retreat in Tuckaleechee Cove, which in later years turned into a mountain hotel with two healing mineral springs.

Approximately 10 miles long, Walland, Tennessee, is situated along the Chilhowee Ridge where the Little River naturally divides the mountain. Early on, both Baptist and Methodist churches were established, and the area's Baptist church was the first permanent Baptist church in Blount County. Amerine Forge, operated by George Amerine, was the largest ironworks in Blount County from 1845 to 1860. In 1901, Schlosser Leather Company opened a tannery, making it the largest industry in the county.