From the days of earliest settlement through the period when the stagecoach reigned supreme, the inns and taverns of East Tennessee played a unique role in the region's history. The earliest overnight stopping places in the wilderness country were merely crude cabins. When the trickle of settlers built up to a flood, however, more elaborate accommodations arose to meet the demand. By the early days of the nineteenth century, some of these structures offered amenities comparable to those found in hostelries on the eastern seaboard.

These oases cared not only for the needs of the traveler but...