Backcountry Notes

Cades Cove is a community frozen in time.  When the U. S. Park Service took over this area of the Great Smokies, there were a number of well-kept cabins and buildings, and an old mill in restorable condition.  Some of the structures in Cades Cove were preserved and restored; others were moved from elsewhere. These log and timber buildings now make Cades Cove a major draw in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Note: click on any image below for a larger view.

Old farm road in Cades Cove. Library of Congress.Some of the original buildings were preserved in monochrome photographs; the images below include some buildings which were preserved and others which were not.

John Oliver's Cabin. Located near the main entrance of the loop road, John Oliver's residence is a vintage Cades Cove cabin, built circa 1822.

John Oliver's cabin; view of front and side entries. Library of Congress.View of back entry and stone chimney. Library of Congress.This view shows window openings next to chimney. Library of Congress.John Oliver Cabin as it appears today. Original image by Daritto7117 -- see Image Credits, below, for source and licensing information.

John Cable's Mill. The mill had been out of service for years when the Park Service took over the Cove, but structurally it was in reasonably good condition and very restorable.

Mill in pre-restoration condition. Library of Congress.

John Cable's mill, after restoration. Library of Congress.

View of restored mill race and wheel. Library of Congress.

Contemporary picture of Cable Mill. Original image by Ctotsky -- see Image Credits, below, for source and licensing information.

Cantilevered Barn. Eastern Tennessee is well known for its cantilevered barns; this one stood near the mill (part of the mill-race is visible in the foreground).

Cantilevered barn. Library of Congress.

Becky Cable's House. The Becky Cable house was built constructed in 1879 by Leason Gregg and later sold to John Cable. This house has been incorporated into the Cades Cove Visitor Center.

Becky Cable's house in Cades Cove. Library of Congress.Another view of Becky Cable's house. Library of Congress.

Henry Whitehead's Farm. The Whitehead farmstead features two log cabins erected side-by-side, the Henry Whitehead cabin and the Dave Shields cabin.

The Whitehead cabin (front) and Shields cabin (behind). Library of Congress.

Whited place -- view of cabins and smokehouse (far left). Library of Congress.Closer view of cabins. Library of Congress.View of cabins showing chimneys. Library of Congress.Cabins pictured with split-rail fence in foreground. Library of Congress.Detail view of Dave Shields cabin. Library of Congress.

Corner detail of Whitehead cabin. Library of Congress.Interior of Whitehead cabin. Library of Congress.

Whitehead place smokehouse. Library of Congress.

Detail of smokehouse construction. Library of Congress.

Contemporary image of the Whitehead Place cabins. Original image by Brian Stansberry -- see Image Credits, below, for source and licensing information.

Churches. Pictured here are two of the three churches preserved in Cades Cove.

First Baptist Church. Library of Congress.Methodist Church. Library of Congress.

Witt Shields Barn. The barn on Witt Shields' farm was a marvellous, ramshackle structure with log pens, storage bins, and other features which drew the attention of a photographer.

Witt Shields barn. Library of Congress.Reverse view of Witt Shields barn. Library of Congress.Exterior detail. Library of Congress.Closeup showing log pen construction. Library of Congress.View of interior. Library of Congress.

Another view of interior; note different method of notching timbers. Library of Congress.View of loft. Library of Congress.

Below: Panoramic view of Cades Cove, mid-1930s.

Cades Cove. Library of Congress.

IMAGE CREDITS

The contemporary images used in this article were made available by their creators on Wikimedia.  The images have been altered slightly for use in the article.  The thumbnails below are linked to the original images and licensing information, which can be accessed by clicking on the thumbnails. All monochrome images are from the Library of Congress archives.

This image has been released into the public domain by its author, Daritto7117 at the wikipedia project.

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.