Historic Structures

Historic Cabins

IIn 1850 the cove supported 685 members of 137 households. Over time, settlers moved out of the cove, leaving only a few remaining cabins. These include Carter Shields Cabin, Dan Lawson Cabin, Gregg Cable House, and The Tipton Place. Others are Elijah Oliver Cabin and the Henry Whitehead cabin. The people of the Cove did not enter, settle, and become shut off from the rest of humanity. From the beginning they kept up through newspapers, regular mail service, circuit riding preachers, and buying and selling trips to Tuckaleechee, Maryville, and Knoxville. They went to wars and war came to them. They attended church and school, and college if financially able. A resident physician was here most of the time from the 1830s on. Telephones rang in a few Cove homes about as early as anywhere else (1896).

Churches

Churches in Cades were established in the early 1800's. Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church was established in 1839 and served the community for over 130 years. Due to divided loyalties during the Civil War, church services in Cades Cove were not held during the war. There are not many records of the early Methodist Church. The Cades Cove Methodist Church is included among those of the Holston Conference’s Little River Circuit in 1830. The cemetery contains at least 100 graves and is the second oldest church cemetery in the Cove. Methodists were not as dominant as Baptists in the Cove, but they served the community well. The Primitive Baptist Church met in members’ cabins until October 1832 when a meeting house of crude log construction was built. The current frame construction replaced the original log structure in 1887.

Barns & A Gristmill

Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is known for its historic cantilever barns. These barns, with their distinctive overhanging upper levels, are a unique architectural feature of the area, particularly associated with settlers from Germany, Ireland, and Sweden. The overhang, known as a cantilever, served practical purposes like funneling rain away from storage areas and providing shelter for livestock. Between the 1850s and 1870s four or five mills served 700 residents. They were powered by water, except for the steam-powered Ledbetter mill, a late-comer built in the early 1920s. Cable Mill's power comes from Mill Creek. This is the only mill remaining in the Cove.

Hospitality

Cove residents made room for strangers. They framed in their porches to create little rooms for overnight guests traveling through.

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Unique Feature

Oliver's home is a handsome cabin. The spring house is one of the most interesting features and is the only one in the cove still intact on-site and accessible to the public. Spring houses were built over trickling springs to protect the family's water supply. It also served as refrigeration for milk, butter, eggs, and other perishables.

The Elijah Oliver Cabin is the most remote cabin in Cades Cove. It sits .50 miles from the main road in an area popular for black bears and deer.

– Built in 1866

Community

Church life in the cove

primitive baptist

This was the first of three churches established in Cades Cove.

missionary baptist

Established in 1839, this church served the community for over 130 years. Due to divided loyalties during the Civil War, services were not held during the war.

methodist church

Built in the early 1830's by Rev. John E. McCampbell in 115 days for $115. It had two doors and a physical divider to separate males and females.

Cable Mill

Cable Mill consists of an 18- by 20 foot room divided in two: an open space at ground level where customers waited with their grain and a raised platform holding the mill equipment.

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In 1878, James McCaulley, a blacksmith, settled in the Cove. Iron was an all-important commodity, and it was scarce. It was used and reused until it just plain wore out.

Corn Crib

A necessity in the Cove

Cades Cove settlers and their animals were dependent upon corn and the structure known as a corn crib which protected it. Grain was fed to livestock, and the corn was ground into corn meal for making corn bread and grits, mush or left whole to make hominy.