There is no better way to start this book than with a description which attempts to do justice to this valley hidden high in the western reaches of the Smoky Mountains. A one-way road encircles the fields and streams of Cades Cove following the approximate route of one of the many roads once used by families living here. It is found by following Laurel Creek Road west from the Townsend park entrance. This access to the Cove was constructed after the park was established and follows the course of a railroad built during the logging days by the Little River Lumber Company. Prior to this, travel to and from the Cove community was along other paths now less traveled.
Tuckaleechee Cove was reached by crossing either Crib Gap to the east or Rich Mountain to the north. Cooper Road, which led west-northwest to Maryville, was a Cherokee Indian track widened over time by the settlers. Rabbit Creek exited the Cove toward the west from where John Oliver’s hunting lodge stood near the Abrams Falls trailhead. This Indian trail also grew into a major travel route and was known by many as the Gourley Trail after some of the familes who lived along it. Those traveling this way would end up in Happy Valley and the Chilhowee areas. Parsons Branch Road meandered south-southwest from the western end of the Cove to a junction with a turnpike now known as US 129.
Of these main thoroughfares, if you could call them that, only Rich Mountain and Parsons Branch remain as roads. Both of these are one-way trips out of the Cove and are closed during the winter. The Rich Mountain Road drops into Tuckaleechee Cove on the north boundary of the park. Townsend and US 321 are nearby giving you the option of returning to the Smokies or traveling toward Maryville. The Crib Gap trail now runs from Anthony Creek at the end of the Cades Cove picnic area over to Turkeypen Ridge. The Cooper Road trailhead is located at Stop # 9 on the Loop Road. Rabbit Creek Trail picks up beyond Abrams Falls traversing Boring Ridge, McCully Ridge, and Pine Mountain before descending to the Abrams Creek ranger station.
At the entrance to the Cove, there is a large parking area with an orientation shelter. From this area can be seen the first views of the valley as the trees open up and the ridges curve away from each other. Tour booklets are available at the small pavilion and many ranger programs start from this point during the spring and summer. A wide grassy strip next to parking is ideal for having a picnic, throwing a frisbee, or playing catch.
After passing through the entrance gate, the fields to the left often have horses from the stables grazing in the early mornings or evenings. Across the fields to the south rise the heights of Cobb and Horseshoe Ridges. Further in the distance to the southeast can be seen Rocky Top and Thunderhead Mountain. After decades, this view never ceases to amaze me.
In the first field on the right is a grassy mound. At first thought to be an Indian mound like those found in other areas of the southeast, excavation and archaeological searches have proven it to be nothing more than a grassy hill covered with brush and trees. Even so, it is easy to imagine it being constructed by early denizens especially after visiting ancient mounds on the Etowah River not far from my home.
The one lane road continues along the edge of open grassland to the left and wooded ridges to the right. Stop # 2 is soon found at a junction with Sparks Lane, a gravel road that turns off to the south. This gravel road is named for one of the families who lived here. The home of Nathan Sparks was just south of this intersection before reaching the creek. John Taylor Sparks lived a few hundred yards beyond the creek on the right. The place Tom Sparks called home was located in the area near the south end of the lane where it enters the woods. The ford across Abrams Creek mentioned later in these pages is located at the first tree line seen along the road. The Upper School was just off the road on the south side of the creek. Sparks Lane crosses the Cove to the southern end of the Loop Road. Two-way traffic is allowed on this road as it is on Hyatt Lane further to the west and both allow for a quicker drive through the loop if time is not available to see it all.
The parking areas for John Oliver’s place are just beyond Sparks Lane. It is a short walk and can be seen from the road. This cabin was built in the 1820s and only piles of stones mark the nearby location of Oliver’s first home. John Oliver was a veteran of the War of 1812 with no qualms about striking out into the unknown wilderness. A family friend told him of a place just over the mountains as yet unsettled. He, along with his wife Lucretia and year old daughter, crossed over Rich Mountain in the autumn of 1818 descending into the northeast end of the Cove by way of an Indian trail. It was too late in the year for planting crops and they soon realized their provisions were not going to last through the winter. The Cherokee in the area recognized the plight of the couple and brought them food to survive until the next spring. Though documents exist showing land grants for the area dating back to the 1790s, they would become the first white settlers to remain in this mountain valley. A strange twist of fate twenty years after that miserable winter found John Oliver as part of the militia rounding up these same Indians for a journey which became known as the Trail of Tears.
Open pastures, wooded hillsides, and mountain vistas continue to appear around every curve. Not far after ascending a steep, winding hill, there is a park service road blocked by a gate which remains locked. However, there is enough room to pull up near the gate and park. The road leads a short distance to Gregory’s Cave. Once used by the local Indians, the Cove residents held social occasions and tours within the cave.
The entrance is gated off and kept secure to not only protect the cave and its residents such as bats, but also for the safety of human visitors. Caves are not someplace an inexperienced person should be wandering. Extra care should also be taken on or near the rocks at the entrance for they are known to be a favorite locale of snakes.
As the trees open up again to your left, watch for a pullout. The view back across to the south is channeled through an opening in the distant wood line with a mountain backdrop. It is not hard to imagine having this view from the porch of a cabin or house. Signs of spring with daffodils rising among the grass tell us someone did. These flowering bulbs are not native to the area so their appearance, along with other non-native flowers and bushes, whisper silently to those who will listen of a previous human touch. In this case, that touch was given by Tyre Shields whose house was at the edge of the clearing near the road.
After once again entering the woods, a sign soon points down a dirt road toward the Primitive Baptist Church. Albert Hill’s store and house stood to the right at this intersection. Go slowly along the dirt and gravel for it can be rough in places. It travels straight for a short distance before angling toward the right and a parking lot for the church. The Consolidated School, created by combining the Upper and Lower Schools in 1916, was located at this angle. A large two-story structure, it sustained heavy damage to the upper floor during a storm in 1924. When it was repaired, it was left a one-story building.
The Baptist Church of Cades Cove was officially organized in June of 1827 but had already been meeting for about two years. Services were held in the homes of members until a log structure was built in 1832. Soon after, differences in the direction of the church caused a split resulting in several members leaving to form their own church. This new church became the Missionary Baptist Church while the original congregation adopted the name of Primitive Baptist Church.
The Civil War caused such an upheaval in the community, the Primitive Baptist Church suspended services from 1862 to 1865. Their reasons were explained in church records.
“We the Primitive Baptist Church in Blount County, Cades Cove, do show to the publick why we have not kept up our church meeting. It was on account of the rebellion and we was union people and the Rebels was too strong here in Cades Cove. Our preacher was obliged to leave sometimes but thank God we once more can meet tho it was from August 1862 until June 1865 that we did not meet but when we met the Church was in peace.”
The original log building was located just behind the current structure built in 1887. Its cemetery contains graves older than any other church graveyard within the Cove.
Returning to the paved loop, another church comes into view after a short distance. This is the Cades Cove Methodist Church which began much the same as the Baptist congregation. Members met in homes until around 1840 when a log meetinghouse was built. The floor of this simple structure was dirt and a hole in the roof allowing smoke to escape from a fire in the center of the room. Following the Civil War, it was also used as a school.
In 1902, a blacksmith and carpenter from neighboring Tuckaleechee replaced the log church with the frame one which remains. Rev. J.D. McCampbell, who would later become the church’s minister for several years, finished the job in 115 days for $115. The building has two entrance doors. This usually signifies the men and women entered by separate doors and sat separately during the services. However, these Methodists did not abide by this particular practice. The building plans used were from another church which still used the custom. During construction, Rev. McCampbell elected to strictly adhere to the plans without altering anything.
Problems also arose in this congregation in the years preceding the Civil War. In the mid 1840s, there was a split among Methodist churches caused mainly by beliefs regarding slavery. It was made plainly visible after the Civil War when the Hopewell Methodist Church was formed. It was built on a hill overlooking the southern end of Hyatt Lane and the property of Dan Lawson who donated the land for the church. To ensure this land could never change hands again, Lawson deeded it to “Almighty God”. I assume this is probably the only tract in the park not owned by the National Park Service. No signs of this church remain except for tombstones, many too weathered to read, which mark the resting places of those buried in its shadow.
Just past the Methodist church on the left of the road is a hill where the home of Leannah Lawson Spangler Chambers stood. In spring, the flowers she planted continue to grow and adorn the hillside.
Before the next tree line is another dirt road going off to the left on which two-way traffic is allowed. Hyatt Lane is named after the family of Shadrack Hyatt who left the Cove for Missouri in 1840. It runs to the south side of the Cove intersecting with the Loop Road at Dan Lawson’s home site. After passing Hyatt lane, the road curves into the trees toward the juncture with Rich Mountain Road at the Missionary Baptist Church. Cowan Russell lived and ran his store near this intersection.
The Missionary Baptist Church sits to the left across from the Rich Mountain turnoff. It was founded in 1839 by the group forced to leave the Primitive Baptist Church. Their name is derived from one of the differences in doctrine that caused the split. Missionary work, while deemed important to those worshipping under this roof, was not considered necessary by the Primitive Baptists. It met in homes until 1846 when its size required them to share the Methodist’s log building. The services here too were put on hold during the Civil War. Resuming afterwards, they did not include previous members who had been loyal to the Confederacy.
In 1894, a meetinghouse was built on Hyatt Hill along the lane. It was known then as Hyatt Hill Missionary Church. This was replaced in 1915 by the construction of the present structure. Services continued to be held in this church until 1944, a full ten years after the park was created.
During the Depression, the New Deal administration provided relief and jobs to many young men in dire need of an income. One of these was the formation of the Civilian Conservation Corps. There were seventeen of these camps in the Smoky Mountains alone. Much of the original trail clearing, campground construction, historic restoration and park service buildings were done by the CCC camps. Cades Cove CCC Camp #5427 was located in the field directly west of the Missionary Baptist Church.
The Rich Mountain Road is a one-way road out of the Cove and out of the park. Built in the 1920s by the state of Tennessee, it winds through mostly second growth forests with intermittent views of the Cove. Traveled by few, it is sometimes a quiet respite from summer crowds in the more popular areas. It brings you out to Tuckaleechee Cove and Townsend.
Continuing on the Loop, it crosses Tater Branch, makes a sharp S-turn and then makes its way up toward what I think is the most breathtaking sight in the Cove. Turning back to the left, a parking lot will be seen about the same time the scenery is. From this point, the view stretches for miles back toward the east across the center of the Cove and beyond. On clear days, mountains and ridges seem to go on endlessly into the distance. The remains of a tree on this rise mark the spot of the “wedding tree” which is mentioned later. Across the road from the parking area must have been quite a busy spot for in this area was the Gregory Store, Jonathan Myers’ house and store, and Murray Boring’s house. Myers and Boring both ran a post office at different times as well.
From here, the road meanders back and forth along the edge of the woods around soft turns before angling sharply down and around to the right. The field next to the parking area here contained the house of Charlie Myers. His barn bordered right up to the trees. After briefly passing through a section of woods, the fields once again open up on the left. A few hundred yards ahead is a small parking area for the Cooper Road trailhead at Stop # 9. Beginning as an Indian trail, it ended up being one of the main thoroughfares to and from Maryville for the Cove residents. Polly Harmon, one of the practicing midwives of the Cove, lived with her husband Samuel and family about half a mile out this road. It is now a 10.5-mile trail that ends at the Abrams Creek Campground on the western edge of the park.
Beyond this trailhead and after a downward S-turn is Stop # 10, the Elijah Oliver place. Elijah was born in 1824 to John and Lucretia Oliver. He left the Cove with his family before the Civil War but moved back after the war. A short walk will bring you to his cabin set in a clearing. One noticeable thing is an extra room on the front porch. It was added so strangers could stay the night if absolutely necessary without potentially putting the household in danger for there was no access to the main house from this room. At the time of this writing, the trail and areas around this cabin are temporarily closed while the park service makes needed repairs and drainage improvements.
Just ahead, the beginning of an old road is apparent on the left. This led to the house of Noah Burchfield. Following this faint path will take you to the Burchfield and Davis Cemeteries.
Curving back into the trees, the road runs very close to Abrams Creek before crossing on a wooden bridge. On the right before the bridge can be seen a modern wire fence which has been erected to keep wild boar out of this sensitive area. River otters are quite common in this creek as well as other waterways in the Smokies. However, they can be very elusive to those who want to see them. I have overheard conversations of people who have, but I myself have never seen one in the wild. Past the bridge, a side road angles off to the Abrams Falls trailhead.
The next section of the Loop road is a great example of what travel along the same road over decades can do. The banks rise high on each side for a couple hundred yards. Years of traveling wagons and cars before it was paved have worn it down to a sunken lane. The Lower School was located here on the right at the top of the rise.
At the next intersection, the Loop continues to the left. Straight ahead is Forge Creek, a two-way road leading out to Parsons Branch. The visitor center and Cable Mill area is to the right. Use caution for this is usually very congested except for during the winter. This area consists of several buildings as exhibits of what homesteads looked like in the Cove. The only structure on its original site is the mill and its accompanying millrace. Other buildings located here are the visitor center, a blacksmith shop, smokehouse, barn, corncrib, cantilever barn, sorghum mill, barn, and the Gregg-Cable house. This is also the only place to find restrooms until you return to the campground.
The Gregg-Cable house was built by Leason Gregg on Forge Creek Road in 1879 near where the road first crosses the creek. The lumber used was sawed at John Cable’s sawmill that was powered by the same wheel as the gristmill. He operated a store for years from the first floor of the house. In 1887, Rebecca Cable and her brother Dan bought the house from Gregg. They kept the store running for another eight years before selling off their goods and turning it into a boarding house. Dan and his wife both became very ill resulting in all the operations of the farm falling upon Rebecca’s shoulders. She tackled the responsibility with typical Appalachian steadfastness living a full 96 years when she died in 1940. The house was moved to its current location near Cable Mill after her death.
John Cable’s gristmill and sash sawmill were built in 1870. The sawmill used a heavy blade that would make a cut with each stroke. This type was outdated before 1900 by steam powered sawmills using circular blades much like today’s table saw. The emergence of sawmills in the Smokies changed the look of homes being built. New log homes became rare and many existing ones were added on to with new lumber. In addition to the mills, Cable worked in the fields of his farm. If a customer arrived and John was nowhere near, they would ring a large bell mounted on a pole. His son, James, continued operation of the mill into the 1900s, but could not keep up with the mills equipped with the newer machinery. Today, the gristmill is all that remains of the Cable operation and is run by the Great Smoky Mountains History Association.
Forge Creek Road, closed during the winter, is another repose from the crowds on the rest of the Loop. It takes its name from the Cades Cove Bloomery Forge which was built by Daniel D. Foute and operated from 1827 to 1847. On the opposite side of the creek past the first crossing is where Frederick Shields ran his grist and saw mills. These mills competed with Cable for business. A store run by Russell and Jane Burchfield stood beside the road nearby.
The only building remaining in this area of the Cove is known as the Henry Whitehead cabin. In reality, brothers of Matilda Shields Gregory built the smaller cabin in the rear for her and her son. Henry, a widower with three girls, did not live there until after marrying Matilda. With the help of his two oldest daughters, the larger cabin was built in 1896 from squared logs which gave an appearance of being a frame house.
Passing the Whitehead place, the road continues following the path of Forge Creek itself. The terrain rises and falls, but the road never wanders far from the creek. There will be few if any other cars and the solitude is refreshing. If looked for, signs of those who lived here can be seen in the forests along the road. An old roadbed meanders along the side of the hill disappearing as it bends deeper into the trees. A rock wall lies almost hidden beneath decades of moss. Piles of rocks where chimneys stood lie covered in leaves and undergrowth. They are sometimes hard to see, but the evidence is there for those who want to look.
Parsons Branch Road turns off Forge Creek before the latter stops at the Gregory Bald trailhead. It is a one-way sometimes rough trip out of Cades Cove and out of the Smokies. It travels through one of the darker areas of Cove history. Chestnut Flats was a mile or so out Parsons Branch. This was the seedier side of the Cove where gun and knife fights, bootlegging and brothels were normal occurrences.
At the junction of Parsons Branch and Forge Creek, Taylor Whitehead had a house just on the other side of the creek. The Boring Cemetery is also a short walk from the park service gate. One of the stone markers tells the sad story of Rev. William Boring. He lost his wife and all three of his daughters to typhoid in 1898. The location of the residence of Dr. Post and his family cemetery is right across the road from Parsons Branch.
Returning to the Cable Mill, turn right to continue on the Loop Road. After a few hundred yards, it turns left sharply. At this point, the parking for the Cable Cemetery is to the right. Also located here was the last school to remain open in the Cove. The Cable School held classes until closing its doors in 1944. The children then traveled by bus to attend schools in Tuckaleechee. The only sign of the school’s presence remaining to be found is the moss-covered front steps hidden in the underbrush.
Not far along the road lies the Gum Swamp. Encircled by a fence to keep the boars out, it can be seen from the road looking down the slope to the left. During wet periods, there is a sizeable amount of water present. However, during the drier seasons, it often resembles nothing like a swamp.
The Cades Cove Nature Trail is Stop # 13. It is a loop trail about a mile long which follows a roadbed a short distance before angling up along the slopes. This old road used to run over to Forge Creek. As are most forests in the area, it consists of second growth timber. Among the underbrush and trees lie large trunks scattered about. A common site along trails in the Smokies and elsewhere, these are what is left of the once prolific American chestnut trees which grew from western Tennessee across to the Appalachians and up to New England. In 1904, a non-native fungus made its way into the states via New York City. By 1950, it had practically eliminated these trees from the eastern forests. Sprouts still grow from the roots, but succumb once they reach a certain size. Research is ongoing to create blight-resistant strains from hybrids of American and Chinese varieties. Recently, there have been found isolated growths of chestnuts in South Georgia and New Hampshire seemingly unaffected by the blight. There is hope something can be learned from their immunity.
Nearing the crest of a hill, signs warn of a steep grade. Heed them for they are not exaggerating. Bicyclists are urged to walk their bikes down this one. At the crest branching off to the right is the original route of the road. It rejoins the modern one at the foot of the hill. In the field beside the ford stands George Caughron’s barn. It had become rundown and in fear of falling, but the park service has done some wonderful restoration work. George’s house was situated across the road along the old roadbed.
After passing through another stretch of forest, the trees open up on your left allowing clear views of the ridges to the north. Nearing the southern terminus of Hyatt Lane, the road crosses a small creek name Cades Branch. Here on the western side of the creek stood Peter Cable’s house. His son-in-law, Dan Lawson bought land from him and built the cabin still standing ahead. Lawson’s strip of land stretched from the state line on the ridges to the south across the Cove to the crest of Cades Cove Mountain to the north. The original house was built of logs but with the advent of sawmills in the area was added onto later with sawed lumber. Many times I have stood on the porch of this cabin envious of the views Dan Lawson enjoyed of the mountains to the north.
Just east of the parking area for his cabin is a small pulloff on the right. The path there leads a short distance to the top of the hill where the Hopewell Methodist Church was located. The structure is gone, but its cemetery remains. This is probably the smallest of the church graveyards in the Cove but is distinct in its own way. A short distance separates two distinct groups of graves. The main group consists of Methodist members of the church. The smaller group, which will be on the right as you enter the clearing, are Mormons. The Methodists allowed them use of part of the church building for their services but the graves of the two “church bodies” were kept separate.
Skirting the forest, the road curves along the edges of fields rising through another area where it has been carved deep into the ground by travel and the elements. The banks rise steeply on each side impeding any view into the woods. Coming to a crest, it curves sharply back to the right with a great view of a homestead ahead. The first building that comes into view is the cantilever barn. This particular one is not an original but a replica of one that previously stood here, allegedly burned in retaliation for allowing government officials to use a wagon to haul off someone’s illegal still. A corncrib is located on the right before crossing the creek. Other buildings around the house consist of a blacksmith shop, smokehouse, woodshed, and an open covered shed used for bee gums.
This house was built in the 1870s by a resident of Tuckaleechee Cove named Colonel Tipton. His daughters lived here and served as schoolteachers. The family of James McCaulley also briefly stayed in the house until he built his own place east of here on the lower slopes of Horseshoe Ridge.
After crossing Oliver Branch and Bunting Branch, there will be a parking area on the left that overlooks land owned by William LeQuire, George Shields, and Andrew Shields. Downhill from here, a road lined with large old trees angles off to the left. This is another spot where the modern road deviates from the original one. Witt Shields had a nice two-story house along this part of the road. It intersects the Loop again after the Carter Shields cabin.
George Washington Carter Shields served in the Union army during the Civil War. His military service was cut short by a debilitating hip wound suffered in April 1862 at Shiloh, TN. After the Civil War, he took his new bride to Kansas only to return to Cades Cove in 1906. Four years later, he bought this cabin which was originally built in the 1830s or 1840s. Not content to remain, he left the Cove for good in 1921. His cabin is located very near the parking area. I am not sure why and maybe it is just me, but it seems the grass in this clearing is always a much more vibrant green than most areas of the Cove.
It will not be long before the southern end of Sparks Lane intersects with the paved loop. James “Bud” and Annis Tipton lived in a house just to the left near this point. There is a small parking area at the next field on the left. On a slight rise directly north is a small copse of trees that marks the location of the LeQuire family cemetery. Time has erased the names from the weathered stones in this little plot. It seems some headstones no longer exist for in places sunken areas remain as the only sign of graves. This peaceful resting place looks across the Cove upon the ridges of Cades Cove and Rich Mountains. Just to the northeast hidden at the end of a low ridge is Graveyard Hill Cemetery.
At the edge of this clearing before curving into the trees along Rowans Creek, the house of Jack Tipton stood very near the road. On the other side, along a dim path leading to a pond, stood the barn of Isaac LeQuire. This cantilever barn was relocated to the Cable Mill area by the National Park Service.
From here to the end of the loop, the road passes through the edge of the forest. To your right, the trees grow closer together while fields can still be seen to your left. Remnants of man’s touch are still visible though no homesteads remain in this area. Rock walls and piles of rock peek out from below mounds of moss and leaves. Portions of Rowans Creek and Cooper Branch still harbor small sections of rock walls along their banks.
The approach to the end of the 11-mile journey through history will be recognized by a thinning of the trees, passing the donation box, and crossing the path used by the horses. Campfire smoke soon permeates the air. At the stop sign, the camp store will be located directly across the road in the same building as the amphitheater. The campground is to the right. If you wish to take another trip through the Cove, turn left and follow it back up to the main road where you began.
Every time I drive through this area and the rest of the Smokies, I notice something different. In addition to the lives of the Indians who lived here, the history and culture that flourished in these mountains for over 100 years is a fascinating subject I can never get enough of. The people who lived here dwelt in houses ranging from simple cabins to elaborate structures with ornate gables and cut lumber siding. Excepting the Becky Cable house, most of the structures remaining in the Cove are of the cabin variety. Over in Cataloochee, the variety of houses preserved are much like the community which stood here in the northwestern section of the Smokies.
As you traverse the roads of this seemingly remote valley, keep in mind these were not backwards people. They stayed abreast of news and the latest farming trends through ties to the more populated areas outside the mountains. The humming of tractors and ringing of telephones were common as was electricity in some homes. One of the Cove schools was the first in the county to serve warm lunches. Automobiles were seen in the community as early as 1913. Though characterized by deep roots in their religions and beliefs, they were not adverse to change or progress but instead welcomed it as long as there was no threat to the community.
Excerpt from Under the Smoke.
