I'd like to do some off-the-beaten-path exploring in search of the history of the Greenbrier this spring. One of the best areas to start is up False Gap because you're hemmed in with the creek on one side and mountains on the other, giving you a nice valley to explore...
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Greenbrier Panoramas
These two Smoky Mountains photos were created as special editions for this fall. The photos were both taken in the Greenbrier area of the Smokies. Both are processed with more extreme contrast and color saturation than I normally do. This effect is something I do as...
Smoky Mountains History: Dutch, Harvey and Luther make Camp
Another Smoky Mountains history entry from the journal of Dutch Roth, recounting a long Smoky Mountains hike taken in 1931 by Dutch and his friends Harvey Broome and Luther Greene on Hughes Ridge, which is known as Pecks Corner nowdays. HUGHES RIDGE FROM GREENBRIER...
Smoky Mountains History: Harvey Broome
“We will fight to preserve the status quo in the Greenbrier. May the Greenbrier remain ax-less, pathless, and roadless, as an act of contrition for Little River, Charlies Bunion, Forney Ridge, and Big Creek.” Harvey Broome spoke these impassioned words in 1944, in his...
Smoky Mountains History: Hiking Club
The Smoky Mountains Hiking Club cabin still stands in the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can see it by taking the Porters Creek Trail. In 1935 Dutch Roth helped build the cabin. These are his photographs. Below are some excerpts...
Smoky Mountain Cantilever barns
The picture above is from the Tipton Homeplace in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It's a great example of the vernacular architecture known as the cantilever barn. The style of hanging a large upper loft area over two cribs below is unique to...
The Life of Wood
There are many old pioneer cabins in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Most of them were constructed from native wood, shaped with hand tools such as the broad ax, froe, adz, and drawknife. The wood in these buildings seems unique and different, with a life of...
The Bohannons Made a Fine Rock Wall
Last week we paid a visit to Plemmons Cemetery in the False Gap area of the Greenbrier in the Smoky Mountains. This week we are exploring further up the creek to the Bohannon homestead. The patriarch, Henry Bohannon, was born in Virginia in 1753 and was buried in the...
A Short Walk to an Old Cemetery
We began our exploration of the False Gap area in the Greenbrier last week. To refresh our memory, this is the area just over the first two bridges as you turn to head up to Ramsey Cascades Trail. Park near the old road with a chain across it to your right. Today we...
Historical Topo Maps
The images on this page are from a 1949 US Geological Survey Map of the Smoky Mountains, which was based on the 1931 map created at the time the National Park came into existence. A copy of this historical topo map can be downloaded...