In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the 816 square miles of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, encompassing portions of both North Carolina and Tennessee. Its mountains range in height from 876 to 6,643 feet and it’s replete with rock cliffs, deep gaps, rocky streams, and dense forests. But tucked in the far western corner of the park, near the small town of Townsend, Tennessee, is Cades Cove.
The 6,800-acre valley is geologically unique for the area because of its limestone window, meaning that weathered limestone resulted in deep, fertile soil. A true valley of lush meadows surrounded by forests and protected by a mountain ring, Cades Cove became a haven for close to 700 settlers during the 1800s and early 1900s.
Before the land was purchased for the establishment of the 21st national park, Cades Cove residents flourished due to plentiful natural resources. The soil nourished mostly corn as well as wheat, oats, and rye, but also offered nutrient-rich grasses to fatten livestock. Plus, an overabundance of chestnuts fed animals and people. Hunting supplemented families’ tables: Deer, turkeys, bears, and squirrels were, and still are, abundant in the valley.
One road led in and out of Cades Cove, but most residents rarely traveled because the valley provided for all their needs, especially when it came to housing. The preserved structures in Cades Cove, part of 80 in the part, attest to the settlers’ resourcefulness in constructing their log homes, corn cribs, smokehouses, outhouses, chicken coops, and barns—all standard for anyone setting down permanent roots in the valley.
Families with the last names Oliver, Shields, and Tipton were among the first to arrive in the area and settled on land secured by grants; these families often helped each other build structures. The construction process was tiring and tedious, yet evidence of the quality workmanship is visible today.
Old-growth chestnut trees were often selected due to their size and their insect- and weather-resistant properties. Other preferred lumber varieties included oak, spruce, and poplar. Logs were hand-cut, and the inside faces of the logs chopped smooth. The architectural style was saddle-notched log construction, with no nails or pegs needed. Either the logs were notched so tightly that wind couldn’t penetrate, or cracks between logs were filled with mud. Gable-style roofs were covered with dozens of hand-cut wooden shingles made from the same types of trees.
Large, flat field stones were selected for the hearth floor—to keep sparks from burning a wooden floor—and to construct the hearth, fire box, and chimney. Smaller stones, often gathered from one of Cades Cove’s many streams, were stacked with mud mortar to secure the field stones in place and build the chimney.
The same types of tree wood were used for constructing split-rail fences to secure livestock. Interlocking zigzag fencing is still evident throughout Cades Cove as a design that is sturdy and self-supporting and easy to create, repair, and disassemble.
Cades Cove has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since July 13, 1977. Taking plenty of time to explore the structures once well used by the residents offers a unique living-history experience. Stop and marvel at the sturdy jointed corners of the log cabin, admire the varied sizes and hues of stones stacked high for chimneys, and rest against durable split-rail fences to reflect on this pastoral place’s enduring history.
