Walker Sisters Place, Mountain homestead in Sevier County, United States
Walker Sisters Place is a mountain homestead featuring a log cabin built from tulip-poplar timber and several outbuildings including a barn, smokehouse, and springhouse. The structures sit within Great Smoky Mountains National Park and show how early mountain families organized their living and working spaces.
The homestead developed during early mountain settlement, but gained significance after Great Smoky Mountains National Park was created in 1940. Six unmarried sisters received rare permission to remain on their family land while most other residents were required to leave.
The sisters practiced traditional Appalachian crafts like weaving and making household goods that visitors can still observe displayed in the buildings. Their daily work shows how mountain families made their own clothing and everyday items rather than buying them.
The site is accessible to visitors and can be explored on foot, best with sturdy shoes since you walk through forest trails and uneven ground. The buildings offer views of how people managed daily mountain life, but most are observed from outside, so allow time for looking around.
The property included orchards with over 20 apple varieties that the family grew and ate, reflecting their need for diverse food sources. A custom-built springhouse used natural creek water to keep dairy products and other foods cool, functioning as their refrigerator before electric cooling existed.
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