Cades Cove Barn

Sunset light outlines the old logs of the Tipton cantilever

barn in Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

 

Since I lived in the northwest Georgia/southeast Tennessee area for many years, I've had abundant opportunities to visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. My favorite part of the park has always been Cades Cove, a remote valley completely surrounded by mountains.

In the Cove are preserved the homesteads, churches, and other testimonials to the way of life of the East Tennessee mountain people who once made the valley their home. An eleven-mile loop road encircles the broad, green floor of the Cove, much of which is still being farmed. The valley also has many hiking trails and a large campground.

I normally have an excellent sense of direction, but Cades Cove has always been counter-intuitive for me. The valley runs east-west and is entered from the north. When I'm there I invariably feel that east is west and vice-versa. (Actually, that kind of thing happens to me more in the Smokies than anywhere else.)

Approximately three-fourths of the way around the Loop is the historic Tipton farmstead, with its cantilevered barn. An unique design found only in a small area of East Tennessee, the barn features a large second story, or loft, supported by a first story formed by two cribs. The overhang provided a place to store crops out of the area's abundant rainfall and also a shelter for cattle and horses.

The photograph was made with a Hasselblad 500CM camera, 80mm Zeiss lens, and Fujichrome film.

Photograph and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone

My book, Backroads and Byways of Georgia, is now out of print, although copies are apparently still available from Amazon, and possibly other sources. The second edition is now in the editing stage and is scheduled to be released on December 6th.