Today, I will share some more from that beautiful valley. The picture above is the Caldwell House. Hiram Caldwell and his family lived for a long time in a log house near here before building this new home in 1903. The house was completed in 1906 and the interior paneling was imported from Waynesville, NC, about 25 miles away.
The shingled gables reflected the nationally popular Eastlake style of the day. Hiram's stylish home was comfortable, and its beauty enhanced by handmade furniture from Cosby, TN.
This was the Caldwell's barn. While the women in the Caldwell home did their household chores, the men and boys farmed and managed livestock on the high mountain pastures.
This is the creek which is next to the Caldwell Home. I loved seeing the leaves in the water --since they looked like gold coins....
Since I have so many blog friends who love barns, I have added one more picture of the Caldwell barn --from the side.... Neat, isn't it?
This is the Beech Grove School. This school, in the Big Cataloochee area, is the only one of three schools that remains. It was built in 1901 to replace an old log building.
School began at 8 a.m. and let out at 4 p.m. with two recesses and a lunch hour. Children usually ate in family groups, the older ones being in charge of the little ones. The lunch bucket was usually jammed with sweet potatoes, cornbread, beans, applesauce, biscuits, ham and a jar of milk. (Sounds like a pretty tasty lunch to me!)
This is the inside of one part of the school. There was another large room behind this one. That is Patti (Neal's wife) sitting in the desk..
Subject matter included reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, geography and grammar. Friday was parents' day. They came in the afternoon to see what the children had accomplished that week. Spelling bees, recitations and singing were both a test and an outlet for the pupils' pride. School days ended in Cataloochie when the National Park came in, in the 1930's.
Finally, I was so excited to see the elk that I sorta ignored all of the wild turkeys that we saw that day. Here is a picture of some of the MANY turkeys we saw.
Tomorrow, I'll publish one more post from Cataloochee Valley.
Hugs,
P.S. My oldest granddaughter (in Texas) turns SEVENTEEN today..... Can it be???? Oh My Gosh--they've all grown up so fast. Happy Birthday, Sweetie Pie.
