Other Historic Sites in the Park
On the way to and from Sugarlands you can take side trips to ([below]) Mingus Mill, Little Greenbrier School, and Bud Ogle’s place at Roaring Fork. Plan on devoting nearly a full day to visit isolated Cataloochee, where you can see ([right]) the Caldwell home, schoolhouse, Palmer Chapel, and several other structures.
National Park Service
Cades Cove and Oconaluftee are the primary locations of historic structures in the national park, but elsewhere there are a few interesting buildings to see.
From Gatlinburg head south on Airport Road, which runs into Cherokee Orchard Road in the park. Soon you come to Noah “Bud” Ogle’s place. Ogle and his wife, Cindy, started farming here on 160 hectares (400 acres) in 1879. Here you can see a log house, log barn, and restored tub mill.
South of the Ogle place you come to Roaring Fork Auto Tour. On this one-way 8-kilometer (5-mile) tour you can see that nature has reclaimed most of the Roaring Fork community. Among the few remaining buildings are Jim Bales’ corncrib and barn, plus a log house that was moved here.
Home for Ephraim Bales, his wife, and nine children consisted of two joined log cabins. The smaller one was the kitchen, and in front of its hearth is a “tater hole.” Family members could lift up a floor board, remove some potatoes from storage, and toss them on the fire to bake. Other structures here include a corncrib and barn.