Visitor directory
Sevier County directory
The Smokies’ busy side: Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Dollywood, the Greenbrier and Sugarlands gateways, and Kuwohi at the top of the park.
Cities: Sevierville (county seat) · Pigeon Forge · Gatlinburg · Pittman Center
Communities: Kodak · Seymour (also Blount) · Wears Valley · Boyds Creek · Catlettsburg · Jones Cove · New Center · Catons Chapel · Strawberry Plains (also Jefferson & Knox)
Official tourism, parks & attractions
Tourism
- Visit Gatlinburg (Gatlinburg CVB) ↗Official visitor bureau — events, parking, trolley, Winter Magic and the Fantasy of Lights parade.
- Visit Pigeon Forge (Pigeon Forge Dept. of Tourism) ↗Official city tourism — shows, Winterfest and the Wonders of Light walking trail.
- Visit Sevierville ↗Official Sevierville Chamber tourism — the county seat, its festivals and the hometown Christmas parade.
Parks & outdoors
- Great Smoky Mountains NP (NPS) ↗Sugarlands, Roaring Fork, Greenbrier and Kuwohi on the Sevier side — the park also reaches Blount (see East Tennessee general).
- NPS — Kuwohi & Newfound Gap ↗The park’s highest peak (formerly Clingmans Dome) on the Tennessee–North Carolina line — road, parking tag and tower info.
- NPS — Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail ↗One-way loop of old homesteads and waterfalls just outside downtown Gatlinburg.
- NPS current conditions ↗Road and trail closures, alerts.
Attractions
- Dollywood Parks & Resorts ↗Theme park, water park and resorts in Pigeon Forge — Smoky Mountain Christmas Nov 6 – Jan 3.
- Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts ↗Gatlinburg craft school that grew out of the Pi Beta Phi settlement school.
- Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community ↗8-mile loop of working studios off Glades Road — plus Thanksgiving and Christmas shows.
Government
- Sevier County government ↗Official county site: offices, commission, news and CodeRED alerts.
- City of Sevierville ↗County seat — city hall, police, parks and traffic advisories.
- City of Pigeon Forge ↗City services, police, library and special events.
- City of Gatlinburg ↗City services, parking garages and the trolley.
- Town of Pittman Center ↗Mountain town at the park’s Greenbrier entrance — town hall, history and events.
Shared with neighboring counties
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (NPS) — shared with other counties; listed under East Tennessee (general)
Local resources
- Emergency (police · fire · EMS)911Call 911 for any emergency.
- Sevier County Sheriff’s Office(865) 453-4668106 W Bruce St, Sevierville · Sheriff Michael Hodges ⓘ source
- Sevierville Police Department865-453-5506300 Gary Wade Blvd, Sevierville ⓘ source
- Pigeon Forge Police Department865-453-9063225 Rena St, Pigeon Forge ⓘ source
- Gatlinburg Police Department(865) 436-1400City of Gatlinburg main line · 1230 East Parkway ⓘ source
- Sevier County Emergency Management (EMA)(865) 453-4919Fire-danger rating, storm info · sign up for CodeRED alerts ⓘ source
- Covenant Health LeConte Medical Center(865) 446-7000742 Middle Creek Rd, Sevierville — emergency room ⓘ source
- Sevier County Schools865-453-4671District site — calendars, closings ⓘ source
- Sevier County Public Library865-453-3532King Family Library, 408 High St · branches in Kodak and Seymour ⓘ source
- Highway emergency (cell)*THP (*847)Tennessee Highway Patrol ⓘ source
Checked Oct 28, 2026 · official sites only · phone numbers copied from each agency’s own page — tap ⓘ to confirm. In an emergency, call 911.
Area news
Headlines from local outlets · Sevier County
Early voting wraps up Thursday, Oct. 29, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. at the Election Commission office; Election Day is Nov. 3.
Read at Sevier County Government →New County Mayor Bryan McCarter names three senior directors to lead facilities, government services & tourism, and public affairs.
Read at Sevier County Government →Pittman Center’s volunteer fire department keeps running while the town, Sevier County and the department work out a long-term plan — new target date July 1, 2027.
Read at WBIR 10News →Northview/Kodak Fire Department joins Sevier County Fire/Rescue on Jan. 1, adding nine full-time firefighters on the county’s north side.
Read at The Mountain Press →Gatlinburg’s Winter Festival & Chili Cook-Off returns to the Parkway Thursday, Nov. 12, 5–9 p.m., switching on Winter Magic’s lights.
Read at The Mountain Press →Burn season rules: state permits are required Oct. 15–May 15, and Sevierville requires city permits year-round for brush piles and bonfires.
Read at City of Sevierville →Sevierville leaf collection started Oct. 19 and runs to mid-January — bagged or curbside vacuum.
Read at City of Sevierville →
Short summaries in our words — tap through to read the full story at the outlet. All area news → · Outlet requests: [email protected]
A short history
Sevier County has what the Tennessee Encyclopedia calls three birthdays: it was organized in 1785 under the State of Franklin, again in 1794 under the Southwest Territory, and a third time in 1796 under the new State of Tennessee. The county and its seat, Sevierville, are named for John Sevier — Franklin’s governor and Tennessee’s first. The 1785 Dumplin Treaty, signed at Major Hugh Henry’s Station, opened land south of the French Broad River to settlement, and the first Franklin-era court met at Samuel Newell’s Station on Boyds Creek in March 1785.
Sevierville grew from the Forks of Little Pigeon settlement and became the county seat in 1795; its courthouse, known for its tower, dates to 1896. Pigeon Forge began as the Fanshiers community; Isaac Love established a bloomery forge there in 1817, and the Pigeon Forge post office opened in 1841. Gatlinburg was White Oak Flats, settled around 1806 by the Richard Reagan and Martha Ogle families; the name comes from the post office in Radford Gatlin’s store in 1856. Pittman Center grew from a Methodist settlement school and health center founded in 1921.
Logging dominated the high country from about 1900 to 1930. The national park, and in the 1950s U.S. 441 through the valley, turned the county toward tourism. Sevier County’s share of the Smokies includes Clingmans Dome, the highest point in Tennessee, and the Tennessee Encyclopedia notes Dollywood in Pigeon Forge as the largest amusement park in the state.
Towns & communities
- Sevierville — county seat; the 1896 courthouse tower
- Pigeon Forge — named for its 1817 forge; Dollywood and the Old Mill
- Gatlinburg — the old White Oak Flats, at the park’s main Tennessee entrance
- Pittman Center — quiet side of the county near Greenbrier
- Wears Valley — back road between Pigeon Forge and Townsend
- Kodak & Seymour — north and west gateways
Our place stories in and near Sevier County
- Gatlinburg — the honest first-timer take
- Dollywood — a planner for the park in Pigeon Forge
- Townsend — next door in Blount, via Wears Valley
Go deeper
- The Lost State of Franklin (1784–1789)
- When Tennessee was North Carolina
- How the World Was Made — a Cherokee account
Neighboring counties: Blount County · Knox County · All counties →
Official visitor links
Checked Oct 27, 2026 · hours, fees and events live on these pages.
Videos
Sources
Checked Oct 27, 2026 · We summarize; follow these for the full history. No hours or fees on this page — check official sites before you go.