May 22, 2026
10 Heartland Series Picks About the Peaceful Side
Written by: Emily Huffstetler
Before travel influencers, East Tennessee had Bill Landry.
From 1984 to 2009, Landry hosted WBIR Channel 10’s The Heartland Series, a program that gave people a closer look at what made the region special. Today, many of the episodes are free to watch online. Here are 10 Heartland Series picks about the Peaceful Side of the Smokies.
Archaeology takes the spotlight in this episode about Tuckaleechee Cove near Townsend, where excavations tied to the widening of U.S. 321 revealed evidence of earlier life in the Little River Valley. The finds point to people who lived here long before the modern town and Great Smoky Mountains National Park came to be.
This episode revisits 1890s Blount County through the work of W.O. Garner, an amateur photographer with an eye for everyday life. His images show people, homes, recreation and rural scenery, along with the Freedmen’s Normal Institute, a Maryville school that trained African American teachers.
UT biologists snorkel through Little River in this episode about the life below the surface, from darters and turtles to water snakes and mussels. The story pays special attention to the tangerine darter, once proposed as Tennessee’s state fish, while showing why clean water matters for the river’s wildlife.
The Walker Sisters lived at their Little Greenbrier homestead as the surrounding land became part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This episode shares the family’s history, visits the preserved cabin near Metcalf Bottoms and includes a few poems written by one of the sisters.
This episode follows White Oak Sinks as old-timers knew it: White Oak Cove. A Ledbetter family descendant points out former family homesites, while the episode traces Schoolhouse Gap Trail back to its earlier use as a road connected to a proposed route between Tennessee and North Carolina.
This longer Heartland Series special tells the story of Cades Cove through former residents. Their memories and historic photos give more context to the churches, cemeteries, fields and cabins along the loop road.
Maynard Ledbetter returns to his family’s homeplace in Cades Cove in this Heartland Series special about memory, landscape and change. The episode also looks at later work in the valley, including native grass and red wolf restoration, spring scenery and Old Timers’ Day.
Gregory Bald rises above Cades Cove with both human and natural history. This episode follows Russell Gregory, an early settler associated with the area, and explores the bald’s azaleas, rhododendron and still-debated origins.
Blount County’s Quaker history runs through Friendsville, a community with deep roots in faith, education and abolitionist work. This episode features local Underground Railroad connections, living descendants and the Freedmen’s Normal Institute.
Elkmont began as a Little River Lumber Company town, grew into a resort community and eventually became part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This episode looks at the community’s summer homes, the park’s creation and the debate over preserving historic structures like the Wonderland Hotel.
Born and raised in Maryville, Tennessee, with roots tracing back to Cades Cove, Emily Huffstetler is a proud Maryville College graduate and storyteller of the Greater Smokies region. She holds a Master of Science in Conservation Education from Mississippi State University.