ΠΠ° Π΅-ΠΊΠ½ΠΈΠ³Π°Π²Π°
Eastern Sevier County is home to the small communities of Foxfire Mountain, Pittman Center, Jones Cove, Richardson's Cove, Locust Ridge, and Pearl Valley. Foxfire Mountain is best known today for the adventure park and agri-tourist destination brought to life by the Postlewaite family, yet it also boasts a colorful history that includes Benjamin Owens, a judge notorious for hanging convicts from an oak tree on his property. Locust Ridge is the birthplace of country music legend Dolly Parton, and it has been reported that her father compensated the attending physician who delivered Dolly with a bag of cornmeal.
Pittman Center, originally a Cherokee hunting ground, is now the largest community in this portion of the county. Strangely, the town is named for Dr. Eli Pittman of New York, who assisted local minister John Burnett with fundraising to build a school to serve the area. Pittman Center is now a favorite destination for those enjoying the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
ΠΠ° Π°Π²ΡΠΎΡΠΎΡ
Journalist and author Michael Williams, a native of eastern Sevier County, has compiled images from local archives and private family albums to depict the unique history of this region of Tennessee that is rich in history and steeped in tradition, legends, and lore.
