Materials from Allen Coggins' research in writing his book Place Names of the Smokies as well as from his time as a tour guide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Also included are his personal library and photograph collection related to the GSMNP. This collection is primarily comprised of a variety of books, presentation notes and slides, park information from booklets, pamphlets, and online, and 35 mm color slides of photographs taken in and around the national park.

Series I, Books, contains all of the books from this collection, arranged by content, dated from 1885 to 2014. Subjects include history, hiking, personal stories, lore and mystery, and others. There are also several issues of journals and magazines, and an audiotape accompanying a book about learning the Cherokee language.

Series II, Research and Presentations, consists of all research and presentation materials related to Place Names of the Smokies and Coggins' work as a bus tour guide, as well as general information about the Great Smoky Mountains area, dated between 1936 and 2015, mostly from 1999 to 2014. This series is mostly typed documents, but also contains some visual material including maps, brochures, and postcards. A piece of granite gneiss associated with Coggins' history with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is included in subseries E as well.

Series III, Color Slides, contains color slides of photographs taken between 1970 and 2005, the majority from 2002 to 2004. These include mainly pictures of wildlife, objects, and scenes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, along with some maps, presentation slides, and people. Slides are labeled with the date created and subject of the photograph.