Backcountry Notes

Beech Grove School. Library of Congress.Tennesseans are proud of their frontier heritage and have preserved quite a few vintage log cabins and farm buildings.  After the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in the 1930s, mountain communities were displaced but some of their habitations were preserved.  This article presents an archive of monochrome photographs which documented these historic structures.

From the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture:

The removal of over four thousand residents from the site was difficult and controversial. To forestall a potentially explosive issue, the National Park Service allowed people who lived in areas not designated for immediate development to sell their land and lease it back from the government. Many older people considered this to be a satisfactory arrangement. The five elderly Walker sisters lived in their cabin in the Little Greenbriar area well into the 1950s and became quite a curiosity for park visitors. For most families, however, long-term leasing was not a viable alternative. As one resident put it: "They tell me I can't break a twig, nor pull a flower, after there's a park. Nor can I fish with bait, nor kill a boomer, nor bear on land owned by my pap, and grandpap and his pap before him." One by one, families left their homes, businesses, schools, churches, and cemeteries behind. The Park Service preserved some structures--most notably in Cades Cove and Cataloochee--but most were either dismantled and sold for scrap lumber or burned. The vestiges of this human habitation still abound in the park, providing a sometimes ghostly reminder of the history of the Great Smoky Mountains before the coming of the national park.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Note: Click on any image for a larger view.

ROARING FORK HISTORIC DISTRICT

The Roaring Fork area is located directly southeast of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Original structures preserved in this historic district are the Alfred Reagan cabin and tub mill, the Jim Bales cabin and farm buildings, the Ephraim Bales cabin and farm buildings.  The Alex Cole cabin was moved from Sugarlands and reconstructed on the grounds of the Jim Bales farmstead.  I was able to locate a photographic archive for the Ephraim Bales place and pictures of the Reagan cabin and tub mill.  For the others, see the Wikipedia articles Roaring Fork and Alex Cole Cabin.

Alfred Reagan's cabin. Library of Congress.Reagan's Tub Mill. A tub mill has its water wheel on the inside of the building; there were at one time several such mills in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains. Library of Congress.

Ephraim Bales Cabin and Farm Buildings.

Ephraim Bales cabin. Library of Congress.Angle view of Ephraim Bales cabin. Man standing in doorway provides perspective showing low height of doorway. Library of Congress.End view of cabin and its eclectic rock-covered flue pipe. Library of Congress.View of back of cabin. Library of Congress.End view showing stone chimney. Library of Congress.

Ephraim Bales barn. Library of Congress.Ephraim Bales barn, angle view. Library of Congress.Ephraim Bales Cabin as it appears today. Original image by Brian Stansberry -- see Image Credits, below, for source and licensing information.

JUNGLEBROOK FARM

The Junglebrook Historic District is located three miles southeast of Gatlinburg near LeConte Creek. The Park Service formally calls this cabin and associated buildings the Noah "Bud" Ogle Place but the name "Junglebrook," used by a former owner of the place, has an enduring charm and remains a popular choice. The cabin was in ruins when it was acquired by the Park Service and had to be substantially rebuilt. Both the cabin and the barn are unusual. The cabin is a double-pen "saddlebag" design with a central chimney and the barn is the last remaining four-pen barn in the Park.

"Junglebrook" cabin, as found. Library of Congress.Entry to cabin; doors were under cover on either side of a foyer adjoining the central masonry. Library of Congress.

Junglebrook cabin interior. Even in dilapidated condition, the cabin shows a high degree of craftsmanship. Library of Congress.

Junglebrook Farm barn. Library of Congress.Interior view of barn. Library of Congress.

Contemporary image of Junglebrook, aka Noah Ogle Place. Original image by Brian Stansberry -- see Image Credits, below, for source and licensing information.LITTLE GREENBRIER

The Little Greenbrier district is located to the south of Wear Valley. This area includes Little Greenbrier School & Church and the Walker Farm, which was the last occupied dwelling of its kind within the Park. The Walker family leased the right to live on the farm for the lives of several Walker sisters, who stayed on into the early 1960s.

Little Greenbrier School and Church

Now called simply "Little Greenbrier School," this was a community facility which served two purposes -- it was a one-room schoolhouse during the week and hosted church services on Sundays.

Little Greenbrier School & Church. The structure in the foreground is a pass-through, which permits people to walk through a fence but not cattle; these were used on my grandfather Slack's farm. Library of Congress.Little Greenbrier School, with pupils at recess on right and lots of firewood on left. Library of Congress.

Side view. Man leaning against the building, on left, provides perspective to illustrate massive size of timbers. Library of Congress.View of front. Note the man standing on the right for perspective. Library of Congress.View of rear wall and gable. Library of Congress.Angle view of front and side. Library of Congress.Angle view of rear and side. Note corner joint detail, stone piers. Library of Congress.View of interior. Library of Congress.Picture of school in session. Library of Congress.Combination bench-desk. Library of Congress.

Closeup of entry. Library of Congress.Detail of corner joint. The wide timbers had to have been milled from old-growth trees. Library of Congress.Close view of corner joint. Library of Congress.View of corner with man providing perspective. Despite the high ratio of height to width of the timbers, there is no interior framework to brace the walls, which depend for stability on the skilled joinery. Library of Congress.

Little Greenbrier School, 2007. Original image by Brian Stansberry -- see Image Credits, below, for source and licensing information.THE WALKER FARM

When the Walkers agreed to sell their place to the Park Service, they took advantage of the lease-back offer which the Park Service had made to mountaineer residents.  The five Walker sisters proved to be far more durable than the Park Service had expected; the last survivor of them died in 1964.

Louisa (seated) and Margaret Walker. Library of Congress.

Walker cabin. The smaller pen toward the rear was built first and the larger pen was an addition. Library of Congress.Walker cabin, reverse-angle view. Library of Congress.Closeup of shingles. Library of Congress.Springhouse on the Walker Farm. Library of Congress.Another view of the springhouse. Library of Congress.Interior view of springhouse. Library of Congress.Log barn on Walker Farm. Library of Congress.Walker Farm corncrib. Library of Congress.Interior view of corncrib. Library of Congress.Blacksmith shop. Library of Congress.

Log pig-pen on Walker Farm. Library of Congress.

Walker cabin today. Original image by Brian Stansberry -- see Image Credits, below, for source and licensing information.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Log Cabins and Buildings of Cades Cove

Backcountry Folk of the Tennessee Mountains

IMAGE CREDITS

The contemporary images used in this article were made available by their creator 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.

Ephraim Bales Cabin, by Brian Stansberry. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Noah Ogle Cabin, by Brian Stansberry. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Little Greenbrier School, by Brian Stansberry. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Walker Cabin, by Brian Stansberry. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.