If you miss Cades Cove Tennessee while traveling in the southeastern part of the United States, you’ve missed one of the most picturesque locations in North America.
Cades Cove is a 6,800 acre scenic paradise located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Townsend and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. With nearly two million visitors a year, Cades Cove TN is one of the most visited areas of any National Park located in the United States.
Cades Cove Tennessee belonged to the Cherokee Nation prior to 1818 and was settled by John and Lucretia Oliver in the fall of 1818. The Cherokee were not a threat to the small numbers of whites in the cove for a few short years until a larger population suddenly turned them hostile. It is sadly ironic that the Cherokee, who befriended and helped the Olivers survive their first few years in the cove, were eventually chased out principally by John Oliver himself.
Cades Cove fell on hard times during the Civil War as most of the population supported the Union and were harassed by Confederates from North Carolina.
The Cove returned to it’s rural lifestyle after the Civil War as industry began to spring up in the...