Cades Cove ~ Part two

For most of its history Cades Cove has been a place to visit, but for more than  100 yrs. it also was a great place to live. In the 1860s John P. Cable bought land in the Cove and built a water-powered grist mill and sawmill in 1870.  It was a technological advancement of its day.

The water wheel driven mill could grind wheat into flour in addition to processing cornmeal.  The families now could make biscuits instead of a diet of pure cornbread.  Tub mills which were the alternative could only process a bushel of corn a day and it was time consuming, where John Cables mill could do it for them and a portion of the flour or meal or even money was the payment.

The same wheel also provided power for a sash sawmill with a heavy reciprocating blade.  It was a relatively slow way of turning a log into lumber but that is how the Cove was able to build houses of frame construction.  Most owners of the log homes in Cades Cove bought lumber for siding to cover that fact that they were living in old fashioned cabins.

A son James V. Cable inherited the mill and operated it well into the twentieth century. 

 Gregg-Cable House
Leason Gregg bought an acre of land from John Cable in 1879 and built a small house with lumber sawed at the mill. He later enlarged the house and ran a store on the first floor.  It is believed to be the first all-frame house in the cove.  In 1887 Rebecca Cable and her brother Dan bought the house and acre their father had sold to Gregg.

 "Aunt Becky" as she was known never married or had children but she reared her brothers children when his wife became ill with tuberculosis and mental illness.She also  ran the boarding house, took care of the farm, tended the mill, and lived a long and successful life until she was 96 in 1940.

 Near the house was the smokehouse where large sections of hogs were cured by smoking or salting and stored.  Deer and bear were
eaten fresh because it was not easily cured.  Sunday dinner could be a chicken killed, cleaned and cooked and eaten the same day.
 

This type of barn was located behind the house with the drive-through in the center and stalls on each side. Two men could unload hay with pitchforks, one from the wagon and the other from the loft. The hay was feed to draft animals and milk cows in the stalls below. The drive through also served as a storage place for farm equipment.

Aunt Becky attended the missionary Baptist church and was a loyal member right up until her death.(born Dec.7th 1844-died Dec. 19th 1940)

When we entered the church a nest of barn swallows greeted us from above.

Inside the church I found a bulletin from that morning so it must still be used.

Becky could be seen barefoot in the fields, plowing or mowing with this piece of machinery hooked to the mules or herding cattle.

 Behind the barn a stream runs (part of the water supply for the wheel in the mill) but on this day some young girls were cooling off on some rocks. A very different picture from the 1860s.
Around 2million visitors come each year to drive the eleven mile loop road.  They like to feel the Cove's pastoral serenity and protection of the surrounding mountains. Some as do I, delight in imaging themselves in the places of those who cut the trees, built the houses and worked a living from the land.  It's one of great Smoky Mountains most popular places to visit.

To God be The Glory  ~~  Great Things He Hath Done

Cades Cove Tour

Cades Cove  ~~  Great Smoky Mountains

The Smoky Mtn NP has one of the largest collections of historic log buildings in the world

This was the condition of the cabin in 1957 - Maintaining these historic structures requires unending care

As we are leaving the property to continue the tour this was the magnificent view

  Walking back from the cabin a surprise awaited us in the meadow

 A nice buck in velvet... slowly got up and walked away

 Stopping briefly to eat some leaves from a nearby tree

As we travel the 11 mile tour many cabins are visible along the road.  Many more could not be seen without hiking to them.

 When the park was created more than 1200 families had to sell their houses

 There are 20 historic cabins for touring.

 Large families often lived in such small buildings.  Parents, infants and daughters slept on the first floor and sons slept in the loft.  Everyone had a job very early... often the children were given the job to take mule and sled to the creek and gather stones for the chimney when the house was being built.

 A Log cabin could take 1 to 1 1/2 years to complete.  Not much except mules, muscles and simple tools and neighborly help to fell the trees, get them to the building site and build the house. The round logs first were scored along their length with a felling ax, then hewn with a broad ax. The notched corners need no nails or pegs, gravity holds them together.  Chinks (open spaces between the logs) were filled with mud to seal out wind, snow and rain.  

Buildings made of lumber from a sawmill were built after 1870.

These families had a hard life but had no time to belly ache as they had chores to be done from dawn to dusk.  

To God Be the Glory  ~~  Great Things He hath Done

Blue Ridge Mountain History

Leaving Skyline Drive of Shenandoah behind we are on to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Immediately I sense a difference in the Scenery.

The parkway follows the Appalachian Mtn. chain for seemingly endless views of parallel ranges connected by cross ranges and scattered hills

There is so much history preserved here in the Blue Ridge 

5 miles south of milepost 1 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in VA.  head down the trail alongside the tattered chestnut logs fashioned into  a split rail fence.

 It was a short walk but well worth the time to get the history lesson

This is a 'single pen' log cabin.

Every inch of space was used.  Many tools were hung on the walls.

The cooking pots were hung or gathered around the fireplace.  A butter churn is on the right.  You might see strings of beans, red or yellow peppers, sliced rings of pumpkins or apples in the fall drying.

They canned a lot of their garden vegetables.

A 'rope bed' was made with strips of rope or leather laced across the bed frame.  Sleepers needed to tighten the ropes often for firmer support.  Hence the expression 'sleep tight'

A child's chair, baby cradle and steamer trunk among many other things they needed

It took a crafty 'varmint' to raid this weasel-proof chicken house.  The cracks were constantly chinked with pieces of wood and the doors secured at night with wooden pegs

This chicken is a Barred Rock.  They lay about one egg per day so if you had a large family you would need enough  chickens to keep up with egg supply

Inside the chicken coop you see the nests and roosting ladder for the hens

these eggs were gathered that morning

Tiny square windows near the chimney were called "granny holes" because the extra bit of light allowed the grandmother to sit by the hearth and sew and knit, tend the fireplace and watch comings and goings of the grandchildren.

A hand made wooden checker game and hand made chairs with woven seats rest on the small front porch awaiting game players

Dug into the hillside this cool, dark root cellar was a storehouse for vegetables and fruits.  Smoked and cured meat hung from the rafters

Rambling stone walls were 'hog walls'  Built in the early 1800's.   They helped to keep out the half-wild hogs that foraged for acorns.

The barn  served as a shelter for livestock and storage for feed and farm equipment

A very large Walnut tree welcomes you to the property

It had to be a hard life but these farmers  were too busy making everything from the earth and by hand and taking care of their families to think about the hardships.

To God be the Glory  ~~  Great Things He hath Done

Shenandoah Skyscape

There is nothing to compare to the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley and Skyscape.  I never tire of it. It's just as exciting to me as all the wildlife we see here

Every year I take the same pictures and each year they look different to me

My brother David checking out the clouds

 An unusual tree, shaped by the weather no doublt

On a clear day you can see all the layers of mountains and valleys

 

 

At this look out is where I took a picture of my favorite 'picture' of Skyline Drive

She was capturing the beauty that I so admire

 The area is rich with history

To God be the Glory  ~~  Great Things He hath Done