Charles W. Maynard

This small booklet describes churches which were in existence when the Great Smoky Mountain National Park began whose structures remain today. While the author does mention the total number of churches which were on the North Carolina side when the lands were purchased from settlers, the author did not actually research the number on the Tennessee side, making simply an estimate. I would have liked to have seen a listing of all the churches that had been on the park lands, even if the ones show more no longer there were not treated further. I found the coverage of the churches to be uneven. Having read church minutes from the earlier periods, I know that the author could have found many more stories that would have been interesting to readers and expanded the book if he had done further research. It seems to be a book that was primarily written for the tourist audience, and unfortunately about all one gets is the information that would be presented to tourists by a guide. The information contained is very readable, but I would have preferred to have known a little more about the churches and their members. show less