The early writings and reports of the settlement school's teachers provide an important glimpse of Gatlinburg in the days before the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park radically changed the city's economy and culture.

After the county gained control of the settlement school in 1943, Pi Beta Phi and the University of Tennessee established the craft workshops that evolved into what is now Arrowmont.

[5] In the early 20th century, reports of widespread poverty and lack of education in Southern Appalachia gained the attention of religious and philanthropic organizations.

An East Tennessee teacher, Mabel Moore, pointed the Pi Beta Phis to Gatlinburg— then a tiny mountain hamlet at the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains— as the community most in need of a new school.

[6] Nashville native Martha Hill was chosen as the school's first teacher, and classes began February 20, 1912, in an abandoned schoolhouse at the confluence of Baskins Creek and the Little Pigeon River.

A last minute effort led by Andrew Huff, Steve Whaley, and Isaac Maples raised the necessary funds, however, and Ogle transferred the deed on the evening of the deadline set by Pi Beta Phi.

[8] Early teachers at the Pi Beta Phi settlement school were moved by the "sad faces" and "stolid character" of the mountain children.

[9] As the mountain children were fond of running through the forest barefooted, hookworm was a common parasite, and teacher Mary Pollard spent much of her 1913–1916 tenure trying to eradicate it.

During the 1918 flu pandemic, Head Resident Evelyn Bishop made numerous house calls in Gatlinburg and the vicinity that endeared the school to the local population.

[7] The American Arts and Crafts Revival, which began in the 19th century, helped create a market for traditional handicrafts that settlement house workers seized upon as a means of income for urban immigrants.

Representatives from Arrowcraft helped establish the Southern Highland Craft Guild in 1929, which gave local artisans greater access to national markets.

The following year, the name "Arrowmont" was chosen, and Summer Crafts Workshop director Marian Heard was selected as head of the new school.

Along with traditional handicrafts such as weaving and basketry, the school's curriculum has expanded to include courses on metalworking, ceramics, jewelry making, painting, photography, drawing, book binding, quilting, glasswork and woodworking.

The Settlement School Dormitories and Dwellings Historic District, added March 20, 2007, consists of six structures and comprises approximately 5 acres (2.0 ha) on the east side of the Arrowmont campus.

[1] The Settlement School Community Outreach Historic District, added July 11, 2007, consists of five structures and comprises approximately 6 acres (2.4 ha) on the west side of the campus.