Walker Sisters Place
Encyclopedia
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 sisters who became local legends due to their adherence to traditional ways of living. The sisters inherited the farm from their father, and after the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
was formed in the 1930s, they obtained a lifetime lease. The National Park Service
gained control of the property in 1964 when the last Walker sister died. The surviving structures were placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1976.
Former Great Smoky Mountains National Park historian Paul Gordon wrote, "of all the people who once lived in what is now Great Smoky Mountains National Park, none exhibited better the character of the mountain people than the Walker family." While part of the Walker Cabin was built in the 1840s (this section later became the cabin's kitchen) by an early Little Greenbrier
settler, the present cabin is mostly the work of Wiley King (1800–1859) and John Walker (1841–1921), the latter being the father of the Walker Sisters. Walker built the farm's corn crib in the 1870s, and in 1882 he helped built the nearby Little Greenbrier School
. An article about the Walker Sisters appeared in the April 27, 1947 edition of the Saturday Evening Post.
) to the west. The Cove Mountain Trail connects the area with the Sugarlands Visitor Center opposite Cove Mountain to the east.
, bought what is now the Walker Place from Renfro in 1838. McFalls probably built the smaller half of the Walker Cabin shortly thereafter. Wiley King (1800–1859) purchased the land in 1853, and built all but the chimney of the larger, 2-story half of the Walker Cabin. His sons completed the chimney shortly after his death.
In 1866, King's daughter, Margaret (1846–1909), married John Walker, a Union Army
veteran who had just returned from the Civil War. The Walkers moved into the cabin in 1870, and in subsequent years dismantled the McFalls cabin and reassembled it as a wing of the Walker Cabin for use as a kitchen. Walker also built the cabin's porch during this period. In 1909, Walker deeded the land to five of his daughters— Margaret (1870–1962), Martha (1877–1951), Nancy (1880–1931), Louisa (1882–1964), and Hettie (1889–1947— and his youngest son, Giles (Walker's other five children had married and moved away). In 1921, Giles deeded his share of the land to his sisters.
While the mountain communities in the surrounding valleys began to modernize to some extent after World War I
, the Walker Sisters clung to the old way of life, which emphasized self-reliance. The sisters raised sheep and grew corn and cotton, sometimes plowing their own fields. They made their own clothes from the wool and cotton they had raised, and became well known for their Christmas feasts, which consisted almost wholly of food they had grown themselves. In 1933, the Great Smoky Mountains Park Commission, charged with purchasing property for the creation of the national park, unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Walker Sisters to sell their land. Fearing bad publicity, the Commission refused to initiate a condemnation suit. The Walker Sisters finally agreed to sell the property in 1941 in exchange for a lifetime lease.
logs with half-dovetail notching, and contain sawn board floors. Both have gable
d, shingled roofs, and both have stone-and-mud chimneys.
The Walker corn crib is a 25 feet (7.6 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m) structure built of hewn logs with half-dovetail notching. The structure's large gabled roof overhangs both sides of the crib considerably, creating ample shed space. The interior of the crib has a puncheon floor, and is accessed by a door at the west end. These structures were sometimes called "plunder sheds," as farmers used them to store miscellaneous items such as barbed wire, brooms, firewood, and tools.
The Walker springhouse is an 8 feet (2.4 m) by 10 feet (3 m) structure built hewn logs with half-dovetail notching. The gabled roof is supported by poles, and a board-and a board and batten door allows access. The interior contains a stone trough through which a spring once flowed, cooling the interior. The interior walls contain small storage shelves. Before the advent of refrigerator
s, springhouses were used to keep perishable items cool.
Great Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains or the...
of 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...
, in the U.S. state of 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...
. The surviving structures— which include the cabin, springhouse, and corn crib
Corn crib
A corn crib or corncrib is a type of granary used to dry and store corn. It is also known as a cornhouse or corn house, though this term can refer to any granary....
— were once part of a farm that belonged to the Walker Sisters— five spinster sisters who became local legends due to their adherence to traditional ways of living. The sisters inherited the farm from their father, and after 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...
was formed in the 1930s, they obtained a lifetime lease. The National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
gained control of the property in 1964 when the last Walker sister died. The surviving structures were placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1976.
Former Great Smoky Mountains National Park historian Paul Gordon wrote, "of all the people who once lived in what is now Great Smoky Mountains National Park, none exhibited better the character of the mountain people than the Walker family." While part of the Walker Cabin was built in the 1840s (this section later became the cabin's kitchen) by an early Little Greenbrier
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...
settler, the present cabin is mostly the work of Wiley King (1800–1859) and John Walker (1841–1921), the latter being the father of the Walker Sisters. Walker built the farm's corn crib in the 1870s, and in 1882 he helped built the nearby Little Greenbrier School
Little Greenbrier School
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...
. An article about the Walker Sisters appeared in the April 27, 1947 edition of the Saturday Evening Post.
Location
The Walker Sisters Place is located at the upper (northern) end of Little Greenbrier, a narrow valley carved into the southwestern slope of Cove Mountain by Little Brier Branch. The flat in which the cabin and outbuildings are situated has since become known as Five Sisters Cove. Cove Mountain rises to the north and east, and the southwestern flank of Cove Mountain, known as Little Mountain, rises to the west. The Little Brier Gap Trail connects the area to the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area along Little River Road to the south, and a gravel maintenance road connects the area to Lyon Springs Road (which accesses Wears ValleyWears Valley, Tennessee
Wears Valley is an unincorporated area in Sevier County, Tennessee, treated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census county division. As of the 2000 Census, the population of Wears Valley was 6,486....
) to the west. The Cove Mountain Trail connects the area with the Sugarlands Visitor Center opposite Cove Mountain to the east.
History
In the 1820s, much of what is now Little Greenbrier was purchased by John Renfro, although little is known of Renfro. Early Little Greenbrier settler Arthur "Brice" McFalls, who moved to the area from South CarolinaSouth Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, bought what is now the Walker Place from Renfro in 1838. McFalls probably built the smaller half of the Walker Cabin shortly thereafter. Wiley King (1800–1859) purchased the land in 1853, and built all but the chimney of the larger, 2-story half of the Walker Cabin. His sons completed the chimney shortly after his death.
In 1866, King's daughter, Margaret (1846–1909), married John Walker, a Union Army
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
veteran who had just returned from the Civil War. The Walkers moved into the cabin in 1870, and in subsequent years dismantled the McFalls cabin and reassembled it as a wing of the Walker Cabin for use as a kitchen. Walker also built the cabin's porch during this period. In 1909, Walker deeded the land to five of his daughters— Margaret (1870–1962), Martha (1877–1951), Nancy (1880–1931), Louisa (1882–1964), and Hettie (1889–1947— and his youngest son, Giles (Walker's other five children had married and moved away). In 1921, Giles deeded his share of the land to his sisters.
While the mountain communities in the surrounding valleys began to modernize to some extent after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Walker Sisters clung to the old way of life, which emphasized self-reliance. The sisters raised sheep and grew corn and cotton, sometimes plowing their own fields. They made their own clothes from the wool and cotton they had raised, and became well known for their Christmas feasts, which consisted almost wholly of food they had grown themselves. In 1933, the Great Smoky Mountains Park Commission, charged with purchasing property for the creation of the national park, unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Walker Sisters to sell their land. Fearing bad publicity, the Commission refused to initiate a condemnation suit. The Walker Sisters finally agreed to sell the property in 1941 in exchange for a lifetime lease.
Historical structures
The Walker Cabin is an L-shaped log cabin, with a porch filling out the gap in the "L" to make a rectangle. The cabin's kitchen, which is believed to have been built by Brice McFalls in the 1840s, consists of one story measuring 18 feet (5.5 m) by 27 feet (8.2 m), and has a door leading to the porch and a door to the larger half of the cabin. The larger cabin, built by Wiley King in the 1850s, consists of one-and-one-half stories measuring 20 feet (6.1 m) by 22 feet (6.7 m). Both cabins are built of hewnHewing
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...
logs with half-dovetail notching, and contain sawn board floors. Both have 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, shingled roofs, and both have stone-and-mud chimneys.
The Walker corn crib is a 25 feet (7.6 m) by 20 feet (6.1 m) structure built of hewn logs with half-dovetail notching. The structure's large gabled roof overhangs both sides of the crib considerably, creating ample shed space. The interior of the crib has a puncheon floor, and is accessed by a door at the west end. These structures were sometimes called "plunder sheds," as farmers used them to store miscellaneous items such as barbed wire, brooms, firewood, and tools.
The Walker springhouse is an 8 feet (2.4 m) by 10 feet (3 m) structure built hewn logs with half-dovetail notching. The gabled roof is supported by poles, and a board-and a board and batten door allows access. The interior contains a stone trough through which a spring once flowed, cooling the interior. The interior walls contain small storage shelves. Before the advent of refrigerator
Refrigerator
A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...
s, springhouses were used to keep perishable items cool.
External links
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Walker family — entry at Smokykin.com