Little Greenbrier School
Encyclopedia
The Little Greenbrier School is a former schoolhouse and church in the ghost town of Little Greenbrier
in Sevier County
, Tennessee
, United States
. Located near Gatlinburg
in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
, it was built in 1882, and was used as a school and church almost continuously until 1936. When the residents of Little Greenbrier asked Sevier County to provide it with a teacher, the county replied that if the community would build a proper schoolhouse, the county would pay the teacher's salary. The land on which the school was built was donated by Gilbert Abbott, and the logs were provided by Ephraim Ogle and hauled to the site by oxen teams. Dozens of Little Greenbrier residents, among the John Walker, father of the Walker Sisters
, gathered on an agreed-upon day in January 1882 and raised the schoolhouse.
Classes were first held at the Little Greenbrier School in Fall 1882. Richard Perryman was the first of 39 teachers who would teach at the school until its closure in 1936. Students throughout the Little River Valley attended the school, some making a 9 miles (14.5 km) daily journey from the Meigs Mountain community
. The school was also used for church services by a local Primitive Baptist
congregation, which established the cemetery on the other side of the road.
The schoolhouse, located near what was once the center of the Little Greenbrier community, is one story with an attic
, and measures approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m). The walls are built of hewn
yellow poplar logs resting on a stone foundation. The interior consists of a sawn oak board floor and a sawn chestnut
ceiling, and was accessed by a white pine door on iron hinges. The school's gable
d roof is covered with rived oak shingles. The chimney, located in the center of the building, was built of bricks, and fitted with an iron pipe and cook stove.
Little Greenbrier (Great Smoky Mountains)
Little Greenbrier is the name of a former Appalachian community that is now an historical area in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. The community was situated in a hollow rising from Metcalf Bottoms along Little River to the upper slopes of Cove Mountain, in the northeastern section of...
in Sevier County
Sevier County, Tennessee
Sevier County is a county of the state of Tennessee, United States. Its population was 71,170 at the 2000 United States Census. It is included in the Sevierville, Tennessee, Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN Combined Statistical Area. The...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Located near Gatlinburg
Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Gatlinburg is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Gatlinburg had a population of 3,828. The city is a popular vacation resort, as it rests on the border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along U.S...
in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
, it was built in 1882, and was used as a school and church almost continuously until 1936. When the residents of Little Greenbrier asked Sevier County to provide it with a teacher, the county replied that if the community would build a proper schoolhouse, the county would pay the teacher's salary. The land on which the school was built was donated by Gilbert Abbott, and the logs were provided by Ephraim Ogle and hauled to the site by oxen teams. Dozens of Little Greenbrier residents, among the John Walker, father of the Walker Sisters
Walker Sisters Place
The Walker Sisters Place was a homestead in the Great Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The surviving structures— which include the cabin, springhouse, and corn crib— were once part of a farm that belonged to the Walker Sisters— five spinster...
, gathered on an agreed-upon day in January 1882 and raised the schoolhouse.
Classes were first held at the Little Greenbrier School in Fall 1882. Richard Perryman was the first of 39 teachers who would teach at the school until its closure in 1936. Students throughout the Little River Valley attended the school, some making a 9 miles (14.5 km) daily journey from the Meigs Mountain community
Meigs Mountain Trail
The Meigs Mountain Trail is an American hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Sevier County, Tennessee. The trail traverses the northern slopes of Meigs Mountain in the northwest section of the park, connecting Jakes Creek in the Elkmont area with Lumber Ridge in the Tremont area...
. The school was also used for church services by a local Primitive Baptist
Primitive Baptist
Primitive Baptists, also known as Hard Shell Baptists or Anti-Mission Baptists, are conservative, Calvinist Baptists adhering to beliefs that formed out of the controversy among Baptists in the early 1800’s over the appropriateness of mission boards, bible tract societies, and temperance...
congregation, which established the cemetery on the other side of the road.
The schoolhouse, located near what was once the center of the Little Greenbrier community, is one story with an attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
, and measures approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m). The walls are built of hewn
Hewing
Hewing is the process of converting sections of a tree stem from its rounded natural form into a form with more or less flat surfaces using primarily, among other tools, an axe or axes...
yellow poplar logs resting on a stone foundation. The interior consists of a sawn oak board floor and a sawn chestnut
American Chestnut
The American Chestnut is a large, deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. Before the species was devastated by the chestnut blight, a fungal disease, it was one of the most important forest trees throughout its range...
ceiling, and was accessed by a white pine door on iron hinges. The school's gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d roof is covered with rived oak shingles. The chimney, located in the center of the building, was built of bricks, and fitted with an iron pipe and cook stove.