Cades Cove Heritage Sites (Part III)

Thursday, 19 April

After leaving the Cable Mill Area (post here), we headed off to explore the last of the heritage sites along the top of the Cades Cove Loop.  Even though there was more traffic by the time we got to these sites, we noticed that few people stopped to check them out.  In fact, most just rolled their vehicles to a stop, took a photo, and moved on.  Not complaining; we enjoyed having these places to ourselves — especially the Carter Shields Cabin, where later in the day we enjoyed a private picnic.

This post covers sites 15, 16, and 17 on the map scanned from the auto tour booklet.

The Dan Lawson Place (#15 on the map) was our first stop.  It is believed that he built the house around 1856 on land he purchased from Peter Cable, his father-in-law.  Originally a log house, it was altered by the addition of sawed lumber and expanded over time.

The Dan Lawson Place as seen from outside the snake rail fence.

This property has some features that are considered unusual for that time and place — a brick chimney and a granary (wheat wasn’t grown in the area; and corn was kept in cribs).  I suppose one might think of them of symbols of the wealth Lawson acquired over the years.  The quality of the interior construction, which is said to be one of the better ones in the park, also speaks to his wealth, and perhaps to the carpentry skills of his father-in-law, who helped Lawson with the construction.

Clockwise from top left: View from the front porch; the inside faces of the logs in
the main room are hewn smooth with an adze; the granary; the view from the
property; the lumber siding on the addition to the original log cabin.

From left to right: the smokehouse; the granary; and the house.

The next property, the Tipton Place (#16 on the map), has a two-story house built after the Civil War by Hamp Tipton, a veteran of the war.  For some reason, I didn’t go inside, so I can’t be sure if it was a log cabin converted to a framed house.  From the outside it certainly looked like the latter.  In 1878, the house was rented to a newcomer who was strongly embraced by the community — a blacksmith (also a carpenter and coffin maker) whose skills supplied “a long needed want.”  He added a blacksmith shop onto the back of the house.

The Tipton house, as well as the smokehouse (far left) ,and the corn crib and
cantilever barn (replica) across the road.

McCauley added the blacksmith shop to the house.  Behind the structure is an open shed called an apiary or “bee gum stand.”  It sheltered the bee hives from the elements, but not from the bears.

The double pen corn crib is larger than the average size seen on pioneer farms.

Built in 1968, this replica cantilever barn is similar to the one that once stood here.

In all honesty, by the time we arrived at the Carter Shields Cabin, we were a bit ‘heritaged out’.  That our tummies were starting to grumble probably had something to do with our lack of interest as well.  So, we made a quick stop, but didn’t explore the cabin where George Washington “Carter” Shields, a veteran crippled in the Battle of Shiloh, lived for 11 years (1910-1921).

From all accounts, this site is especially lovely when the dogwoods are blooming.

Oddly enough, after taking the Sparks Lane shortcut from here to hike to another heritage site for a picnic lunch, we changed our plans and returned to this peaceful spot for our midday repast (post here).  By then, the cyclist I mentioned in the linked post was camped out behind the cabin.  Not wanting to disturb him, we never did go back to the cabin to explore it.

I have one more thing to add about our visit to the heritage sites, but I don’t want to end on a negative note, so I’ll post my rant separately.  Hint: it doesn’t have to do with wildlife.