Cades Cove Planning

Home Planning Process Public Involvement		Historically Speaking Driving into Cades Cove is a journey back in time. The Cove is preserved to look as it did in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A few historic home sites and churches, and a functioning gristmill are maintained to provide visitors a glimpse into the lives of Cove residents from the 1820s to the 1930s. Gristmills and blacksmith shops were probably the Cove's first industries. Nearly everyone in the Cove farmed, even the blacksmiths, storekeepers and distillers. They grew corn and wheat, sometimes rye and barley. All had vegetable gardens. Few had orchards and most canned wild blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

		Euro-American settlers began homesteading in the 1820s, and by 1850, there were 132 families living in the Cove. They came mainly from Virginia, North Carolina, and upper East Tennessee. They cleared the Cove and set up thriving farms, allowing their descendants to live in Cades Cove for several generations before it became part of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Great Smoky Mountains were authorized by Congress as a national park in 1926 "for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." All property in Cades Cove was purchased by the State of Tennessee for donation to the Federal Government by the time the Park was dedicated in 1940. Today Cades Cove is the most popular visitor destination in Great Smoky Mountains National Park with over 2 million visitors each year.		The Cove was likely named for Chief Kade, of the Cherokee. Native Americans roamed the fertile valley in search of the abundant wildlife. Many of the trails forged by the Cherokee remain today and are used by visitors for hiking.

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Page Updated: November 4, 2005