This isolated Tennessee valley has been home for generations of early settlers and Native Americans alike, today welcoming millions of tourists annually as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Though the land has existed for millenia, the village known as Cades Cove came into existence in 1821, when William “Fighting Billy” Tipton was granted 1,280 acres of fine fertile land in the first recorded legal land title to Cades Cove following the Calhoun Treaty of 1819. At its peak in 1900, the census showed that there were 125 families living in the cove and over 700 individuals. The Cades Cove people were self-sufficient and had many conveniences that others did not. Some residents made their own water system, and there were blacksmiths, coffin makers, farmers, storekeepers, postmasters, and many more occupations – there was no need to go out of their beloved cove for anything. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, with a good deal of opposition from the Cades Cove residents, the area was incorporated into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Relive the fascinating history of Cades Cove through words and images in this book.

Missy Tipton Green is a Blount County native and enjoys researching history and hiking to the many sites where Cades Cove homes once stood. She is a charter member of Cades Cove Preservation Association. Her first book, Precious Memories, is an account of childhood in Cades Cove. Paulette Ledbetter is also a Blount County native who spends much of her time researching and hiking. She is past treasurer of the Cades Cove Preservation Association. Green and Ledbetter were codirectors of the Cades Cove/Thompson Brown Museum in Maryville, and together they authored From Mineral Springs to Bed Springs: a History of Hotels and Inns in the Foothills of the Smokies.

All proceeds generated through the sale of Great Smoky Mountains Association merchandise go to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to support projects and services.