spent a week at one of my favorite places

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Oliver Springs, TN
I just spent a week with 35 sixty graders at http://www.gsmit.org/, one of my favorite places. We spent a day at Cades Cove hiking around learning about the early settlement and human influence on the Cove. If you ever get a chance to visit it's a really neat place. The park service has preserved several of the original home places. The cove has a problem with air quality due to all the cars going through. This time of year till fall it can be kind of hazy. Here's a few pics. I threw in a little dove tail action in one of the pics.:)

I should have thrown in this disclaimer at the front. The first picture is of the Middle Prong of the Little River, and the second is of Spruce Flats Falls in Treamont.
 

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My Grandpas 2nd cousin lived his whole life in the park selling honey to the tourists. When he passed his farm went back to the park. He had to live there with no electric or indoor pluming. They done a big write up of him in the National Geographic in 66. I have never been there but hear it is something to see.
 
I love the old buildings, but I find it really funny, most people who look at these old buildings, especially when they are not lived in and not in good condition think that it must have been very horrible to live in, granted compared to a nice modern home with AC and central heating an old building like this would not be as nice, but that does not mean they could not be comfortable, snug, and safe. Also the amount of pure hard work that would go into building a home like that is just staggering. Can you imagine the hard back breaking work it would take to split all of those logs? Gather up all them stones and lay the foundation? Make all of those cuts and dovetails with the only power in power tools was from sweat and muscle?

I very much doubt many in our society, present company excluded, could even sort of make a building like this.

I very much love old structures like these, thanks for sharing your visit! :thumb:
 
Stu, you bring up a good point. We have what is called Lincoln's Pioneer village close to here. Ol' Abe spent some time in these parts. When the buildings need repair, they can't even figure out how to do it. We have to bring in specialist from far away places. Sad what we have lost over the years.
 
Love Cades Cove... I haven't been up there in about a year, but need to go back... we've been there several times and anytime my son is home for more than a day or two, he'll take the truck up there to photograph any and everything he can find... just imagine what it would have been like before we messed it up with roads and cars...
 
My Grandpas 2nd cousin lived his whole life in the park selling honey to the tourists. When he passed his farm went back to the park. He had to live there with no electric or indoor pluming. They done a big write up of him in the National Geographic in 66. I have never been there but hear it is something to see.

I remember seeing him there. He died in 1999 I think and his name was Kermit Caughron. When he passed his wife moved out of the park and the park service "dismantled" the house. The barn blew down in 09 I think.
 
I love the old buildings, but I find it really funny, most people who look at these old buildings, especially when they are not lived in and not in good condition think that it must have been very horrible to live in, granted compared to a nice modern home with AC and central heating an old building like this would not be as nice, but that does not mean they could not be comfortable, snug, and safe. Also the amount of pure hard work that would go into building a home like that is just staggering. Can you imagine the hard back breaking work it would take to split all of those logs? Gather up all them stones and lay the foundation? Make all of those cuts and dovetails with the only power in power tools was from sweat and muscle?

I very much doubt many in our society, present company excluded, could even sort of make a building like this.

I very much love old structures like these, thanks for sharing your visit! :thumb:

The old buildings are fun to look at. There's several old cabins in the Cove. I need to see if I can find some other pictures.
I don't think a/c was a problem since most of the year your work day started at daylight and ended at dark. I doubt you saw the inside of the cabin much during daylight.:D To think of the hard manual labor required everyday all day just to eek out a living. I don't want any part of that! It's a time I'd like to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

As you all know the life expectancy wasn't very long, and the infant/young children mortality rate was high. There is a Primitive Baptist church in the cove with a good sized cemetery. The church was established in the early 1800's. We always stop at it and learn about the importance of the churches in the community. We also walk through and have the kids look at the markers and notice the ages at death. It's a eye opener for a lot of them.
 
I remember seeing him there. He died in 1999 I think and his name was Kermit Caughron. When he passed his wife moved out of the park and the park service "dismantled" the house. The barn blew down in 09 I think.

That was him John. As I understand it he done quit well with the honey business and was very well off but would just not leave the cove or that life style. I have never been there but it is on my bucket list I only wish I could have gone when Kermit was alive.
 
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