Beech Grove School. Library of Congress.

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.

Mountain woman of Frozen Creek, Kentucky. Library of Congress.

Note: Click on any image for a larger view.

Farmstead near Hyden, Kentucky. Library of Congress.If any one word can describe this community, it is "determined." They were -- and many still are -- determined to live by their own creed.  They cling to religion and guns and traditional ways as much as any Appalachians.  It is a determination that has become increasingly more difficult to sustain in the age of television and the Internet, which make it so much harder to keep the outside world at bay.

Kentucky farm family, 1916. Public domain.

It is not true that a "come-here" is never accepted in the Kentucky mountains; one simply has to stay for five years or better to get out of the "probably a transient" category. Ten years, and they'll start to remember your first name.

Garland Family, Knox County, Kentucky. Library of Congress.East Kentucky mountaineers have produced a valuable heritage of music and folktales, as well as a wealth of ironic "exaggerations" -- such as, "his feet are so big, he has to go to the mouth of the holler to turn around." For a sample of East Kentucky mountain song, go to the Digital Library of Appalachia, here, and click "Access this item."

Family reunion at Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Library of Congress.

Lady from Pine Mountain. Library of Congress.Mountaineer with his two grandsons. Library of Congress.Frozen Creek woman with her granddaughter. Library of Congress.

General store, Knox County. Library of Congress.Botto Post Office, Clay County. Library of Congress.

Rural postman delivering mail, Breathitt County. Library of Congress.

Mountain home, Breathitt County. Library of Congress.

FARM LIFE

Like many settlers in the mountains of Appalachia, East Kentuckians lived on farms, most of which would be classed as "subsistence" farms, although typically they had crafts or skills such as carpentry or blacksmithing as well.

Platt family of Pendleton County with two of their bovines. National Archives.

This farm family posed with their home-made hoes -- one for each to use. Library of Congress.

Mowing hay with a two-mule team. Library of Congress.

Harvesting burley tobacco. Library of Congress.

Drying apples. Library of Congress.

Beehives made from hollowed-out logs on a farm near Pine Mountain, Kentucky. Library of Congress.

Loading hay. Library of Congress.

Churning butter. Library of Congress.Produce -- in this case, watermelons -- was often taken to town in the wagon on Saturdays and court day. Library of Congress.

Mules were typically the "horsepower" for farming. Library of Congress.Farmhouse porch decorated with potted plants. Library of Congress.

CHILDREN AND SCHOOLS

During the Great Depression years, when most of the pictures in this article were taken, there were still many one-room schoolhouses in East Kentucky, although larger schools were being built.

One-room log schoolhouse. Library of Congress.

Children at work in one-room log schoolhouse. Library of Congress.

Laurel School in Breathitt County, Kentucky, a larger one-room school. Library of Congress.

Interior of Laurel School with students at their desks. Library of Congress.Barefoot youngsters on steps of Laurel School. Library of Congress.Laurel School at recess. Library of Congress.Big Rock School. Library of Congress.Children at work in Big Rock School. Library of Congress.Buckhorn School in Breathitt County -- a multi-roomed log schoolhouse. Library of Congress.

School is out -- the object of intense study for these lads is a game of marbles. Library of Congress.

Kids walking home from school. Library of Congress.COURT DAY

Court day was a Backcountry tradition, a day which marked the opening of a term of the local Circuit Court and brought citizens into town from all parts of the county, for court business, marketing and trading, and socializing.

Court Day in Hazard, Kentucky, early 20th century. Public domain.

Court Day in Breathitt County, 1940. Library of Congress.

Socializing on Court Day in Breathitt County. Library of Congress.Court Day in Campton, Wolfe County. Library of Congress.Church benefit dinner set up on the court house lawn. Library of Congress.

Preacher delivering a Court Day sermon. Library of Congress.Jockey Street, near the court house. Library of Congress.Court Day business -- trading mules and horses on Jockey Street. Library of Congress.

RELATED ARTICLE: Vintage Log Cabins of Kentucky

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.

Replica of Lincoln log cabin. Click on image for source and licensing information.

Note: click on any image below for a larger view. All images below are from the Library of Congress archives.

Log cabin, Breathitt County, KY, photographed in 1940.]]>http://www.backcountrynotes.com/society-and-culture/rss-comments-entry-6698629.xmlBackcountry cultureKentuckyKentucky BackcountryTennesseeTennessee BackcountryVirginiaVirginia BackcountryWest VirginiaWest Virginia Backcountryfarmsfestivalssorghumsorghumsorghum molassessweet sorghumsweet_sorghumJay HendersonSun, 14 Feb 2010 16:02:26 +0000http://www.backcountrynotes.com/society-and-culture/2010/2/14/backcountry-sweetnin-making-sorghum-molasses.html214394:2207121:6688389Break time at sorghum molasses operation in Racine, WV. Library of Congress.In Southern Appalachia, sweetnin' refers to sugar in its various forms, including white sugar, brown sugar, honey, and sorghum syrup.  For almost a century following the introduction of sugar sorghum to the United States in 1857, sweet sorghum -- popularly known in the region as "sorghum molasses" -- was the sweetnin' of choice.

Although cane sugar and molasses were widely available in Colonial times, these were store-bought items, and relatively expensive compared to current prices.  Backcountry settlers had a strong preference for making their own anything and everything, and so for decades sweetnin' meant honey, maple syrup, and maple sugar.  Sugar-sorghum culture was eagerly adopted and in nearly every community there was at least one farm engaged in its production.

Racine, WV -- syrup boiler on left, cane grinder or "gin" on right. Library of Congress.

Curtis Stiner, mountain farmer. National Archives. Note: Click on any image for a larger view.

The modern era arrived between the world wars, when Tennessee Eastman was established in Kingsport and the Bemberg Corporation built rayon mills in Elizabethton -- and when two major Federal projects, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Tennessee Valley Authority, brought the outside world irrevocably into the high country and its river valleys. The Park and the TVA dams displaced whole communities from ancient abodes and altered forever the way of life that had endured from the Colonial period. 

J. C. Nicely, Union County, TN. National Archives.With the Federal projects came resettlement plans and, during the Depression, public works projects. Reading the accounts surviving from this era, it is hard to escape the attitude of the Federal men that they were bringing indoor plumbing and enlightenment to backward, uneducated, gap-toothed hillbillies.  Yet among those archives are a scattering of photographs which reveal folks of a very different character. Perhaps unwittingly, the Federal men left us vignettes of an independent, hardy, resourceful, and industrious people, worthy descendants of the Backcountry settlers of long ago.

The Virginia Highlands Festival for 2010 begins on July 24 and continues to August 8.

The name "bogtrotter" is an Englishman's ethnic slur against the Irish. One wag's definition: "Slur directed against the Irish, mostly by jealous English bastards." Related to the use of the disparaging "bog Irish" to describe Irish commoners, and alternately rendered as "bog-trotter" or "bog trotter," the name came to America with the Scotch-Irish (along with another such ethnic slur -- "hillbilly"). The Scotch-Irish settlers' fine sense of irony led eventually to the naming of The Bogtrotters Band of Galax, Virginia.

Note: Click on any image for a larger view.

The epicentre of old-timey country music is Galax, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Plateau of Virginia. An independent city located between Carroll and Grayson counties, Galax hosts the grand-daddy of all mountain music events, the Old Fiddler's Convention. This gathering of musicians began in 1935 and in its early years featured one of the great mountain-music bands, The Bogtrotters Band.  During the late 1930s and early 1940s more than one hundred examples of the music of the Bogtrotters Band were recorded by John Lomax and Alan Lomax for preservation in the Library of Congress.  These recordings are a treasure-trove of old-timey music.