The Land of the Smokies: Great Mountain Memories (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: eagle dance, earth auger, Pigeon Forge, North Carolina, Rock City (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From Blowing Rock, North Carolina, where the Tweetsie Railroad boards to Lookout Mountain, on the Tennessee and Georgia border, "the Land of the Smokies" attracts thousands of tourists each year. Some come to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; many others delight in the sometimes quirky but always alluring attractions along the highways.

In The Land of the Smokies, Tim Hollis wields his wit, his passion for detail, and almost 200 classic illustrations to produce an incomparable history of fun in the mountains. Hollis shows how the national park was created out of former farms and homesteads. He charts the development of Gatlinburg's crafts industry and examines the many types of restaurants and motels. Through photographs, postcards, brochures, and historiography, he explores popular destinations including Christus Gardens, Rock City, and Ruby Falls, as well as more obscure though no less bewitching stops such as the Tour Through Hell, Magic World, and Santa's Land.

Hollis does not settle for mere nostalgia but also treats the many contemporary celebrities who set up their own theaters and theme parks, such as Dollywood. And what visit to the Smokies would be complete without a round at the many miniature golf courses that line highways to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg?

Tim Hollis is the author of numerous books, including Hi There, Boys and Girls! America's Local Children's TV Programs, and co-author of Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records, both from University Press of Mississippi.

From the Publisher

This nostalgic, informative history of one of the nation's most enduring tourist regions

---Serves the many who visit and reminisce about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which receives more visitors each year than any other national park

---Taps Tim Hollis, well-known author of Dixie before Disney and other similar titles

---Provides nostalgia and travel buyers a book to take them beyond the many guides to the national park

---Features 250 fun and nostalgic illustrations --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (May 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578069440
• ISBN-13: 978-1578069446
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,078,459 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs larger photos to help evoke memories, December 30, 2007

By	John A. Troutman (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those of us who visited the Great Smoky Mtn area as kids in the 1960s and 1970s, this book is a good flashback. But the photos are way too small. Remember, some of us are now in our late 40s and 50s and we can't see detail in a 1-inch square photo. This type of book would be great if the tiny photos were increased 2x to 4x and cut the text back (I don't need that much detail on the owners of the amusements, etc.) I was going to get this book for my 75-year old dad, who also visited the area in the late 1940s thru 1980s; But the photos were too small.