Paulette Ledbetter

Cades Cove (Images of America) Paulette Ledbetter

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. The area was established as the 16th Civil District of Blount County. 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, this land was obtained by the State of Tennessee through eminent domain, and it later became the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.