It's impossible to understand the history of our downtown Gatlinburg hotel, Bearskin Lodge, without first understanding the story of Hattie Ogle McGiffin...
Hattie was born on February 24, 1898. At this time, Gatlinburg was a sleepy logging community nestled in the foothills of Southern Appalachia; however, rural life was tough as the town did not have municipal utilities such as running water, electricity, telephones, or a sewer system. Despite the odds, the residents of Gatlinburg were resilient and understood the value of hard work. In 1912, at the age of 14, Hattie began working for her father at his general store selling everything from farm tools and toys to flour and butter. Despite the wide variety in products, Hattie became particularly skilled at one specific component of the business – negotiating with hunters on animal skins. Due to the indigenous wildlife, one of the most prevalent skins she dealt with were bearskins. Five years later, Hattie found love when she married Charles “Charlie” Austin Ogle, whose family owned the other general store in town. The business and family began to grow as Charlie and Hattie had four children, all of whom were active in the family business.
In 1932, she opened her first independent business venture, The Bearskin Craft Shop. The Bearskin Craft Shop was the first craft shop in Gatlinburg not affiliated with the Pi Beta Phi Fraternity and was located where The Ogle Building sits today on the Parkway in downtown Gatlinburg.
