Traders Mall
Located beneath Midtown Lodge Traders Mall
is a quaint little mall with a picturesque Old England feel.
On the left, the old Traders Mall Sign with
the old Toy Chest clearly visible in the background. Not sure why this sign was removed I always liked it.
Above the Trades Mall sign is the the bridge that leads to the Midtown Lodge Townhouses from the Office side.
On the right is the new Traders Mall sign, with Midtown Lodge Office in
the back ground.
This picutre shows the way Traders Mall used to look years ago with the Ice
Cream and Candy Shop on the right, A shop that appears to be called Cornucopia in
the middle, today it is a Nascar store, as shown in the picture on the right, and
Mountain Leather which still remains today on the left
A couple of shots of the Toy Chest that use to take up what is now
2 shops, a toy shop still remains in half, and the other half became an Old Time
Photo Studio, itt is now, however, currently vaccant. That is my sister and myself in the picture
circa 1987. I remember there use to be a very nice lady that worked there when I was
a kid, I use to hangout in the shop all the time because we stayed upstairs
in Midtown Lodge and she use to give little things when I was in there. The
shot on the right shows the Toy Chest taking up 2 windows, before it scalled down to 1
window with the Old Time Photo Studio going in the other half, to the left you can see
the window of The Buckboard and straight ahead it appears that Cornucopia has become a clothes
store.
The Toy Chest today has become "Buckboard's Toy Room" the picture on the left shows the
vaccancy where The Old Time Photo Studio use to be, which once was also the Toy
Chest.
The Buckboard has been in the Traders Mall for many
years. The picture on the right shows the Buckboard today, and the picture on
the right shows the buckboard inside today. I remember you use to be able to
look into the traders mall shops from Midtown Lodge, as they had windows
in the back under the roof on the walk way, by the railing, as you can
see the spot in the picture below on the right, but these windows have since been borded
up.
The picture on the left dates back to the late
1980's, That is my sister and myself standing in front of Maples Forge which has been gone for nearly 20 years,
replaced for many years by the Mexican Restaurant "Cactus Jacks" seen in the picure on
the right. Notice at the bottom corner on the left, can be seen the Buy
1 Get 1 Free sign, in the Old Time Photo Sudio that has moved in
to half of the Toy Chest. Catus Jacks is now gone, and
has been replaced after some time of being vacant by "Parkway Indian Crafts"
pictured below.
Parkway Indian Crafts on the left has the feel of
an old time Gatlinburg shop, on the right shows the new shop Tne Great Wall, a
shop with lots of swords. This shop was The Brier Patch for many years. Also you
can see that Parkway Indian Crafts extends into the area that use to be Traders
Deli. You can however still walk up the stairs to the sidewalk by the
skylift.
Here is a shot of the back window of Parkway Indian
Crafts from the sidewalk up by the skylift. On the right is another shot showing The Great Wall on the left,
and a nice overall shot of Traders Mall showing Old England feel and Ripleys and
The Space Needle in the background.
Not
only did Cactus Jacks take out Maples Forge but it
also took out the Trades Deli that use to be on the right side of Maples Forge,
seen in the two photos
here.
The shot on the left, though not the clearest of shots, show
the entrance to the courtyard leading up to the sidewalk by the skylift. I
remember sitting at the table here, eating breakfast and watching the skylift go,
in fact if you look closely you can see the skylift in the back of the picture.
The Deli was a great place for a nice, reasonably priced breakfast in a
nice setting, with the skylift on one side and the fountain on the other. On the right, a better shot of the Deli, showing the outdoor patio
with the steps that lead up to the street by the skylift, that is me trying very
hard to open my drink, or perhaps just posing. I believe that is a Water Bogan
t-shirt from Pigeon Forge I am wearing, I also seem to remember they had a
yellow dog bank inside the Deli for donations for some charity
The fountain in traders mall and the Cast A Coin
sing have been in Trader's Mall for a long
time.
The back entrance to Traders Mall on the sidewalk by
the Skylift, where the Traders Deli courtyard use to
be.
