This image is the cover for the book Lifetime in Gatlinburg: Martha Cole Whaley Remembers, American Heritage

Lifetime in Gatlinburg: Martha Cole Whaley Remembers, American Heritage

Martha Cole Whaley recounts her 100 years of witnessing the evolution of Gatlinburg, TN.


Today, Gatlinburg is an idyllic mountain resort. But the Sugarlands Valley in the 1910s couldn't have been more different. Martha Cole Whaley began her life on the outskirts of the city and has witnessed firsthand the joy and struggle of more than one hundred years in the area. Her rich experiences include what it was like to eat onion tops for an after-school snack, bathe in a washtub behind the stove and see a zipper for the first time on the boots of the mailman. Join author Marie Maddox as she captures an amazing century of Martha's life in Gatlinburg through stories, interviews and even a few of her favorite recipes from now and then.

Marie Maddox

Marie Maddox currently teaches high school Latin and journalism in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. She has degrees from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Maddox has conducted extensive interviews with East Tennessee centenarian Martha Whaley.

The History Press