The General Store may be a historical concept, but as you travel through East Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains you are able to experience these “one-stop” shops that originated in the late nineteenth century. General stores were the primary retail establishment in small, rural towns and sold everything from hardware to bulk food. The stores not only served as a venue to purchase necessary goods, but as well as a gathering places. Some even housed the town’s post office and blacksmith. The city of Gatlinburg was originally known as White Oak Flats. Following the opening of the post office in the town’s second general store in 1856, opened by Radford C. Gatlin, the name Gatlinburg was adopted.
Posted by Chris Ann 
