Graveyards in the Smokies

Quite some time ago I really wanted to be able to visit and photograph all of the graveyards and cemeteries in the Smoky Mountains. After spending my honeymoon hiking six miles to one-and then not being able to walk for a couple of days-I realized that I won't get to most of them. But I cannot resist the ones that are more accessible. With our visit to the Smokies a couple weeks ago, I was able to add one to the "visited" list.

Cades Cove is an area in the western part of the park, located in Blount County and one of the more popular places for people to visit. The one-way loop road attracts thousands of cars a day in the hopes of seeing bear in their natural habitat(see post a few days down). There are three church cemeteries, easily visited and well marked. There is the Cable Cemetery, located near the visitor center at the far western end of the loop road. The Lawson Cemetery is not far from the Dan Lawson home, but it is in the woods and up a hill and not often visited. I finally was able to visit one that I had not previously, the LeQuire Cemetery. It is not far from the end of the loop, in a field near a pullout. There had been a fence up(as there is around most of the inner edge of the loop), but on this visit a section of fence was gone and a large path was cut into the high grass of the field leading out to the small graveyard. Finally I was able to visit when so many times I had just looked longingly as we passed by. To my dismay, there are absolutely no marked graves here, just a few simple fieldstones. But at least I know now and have photographed it(below).

We also took a trip through the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, a smaller version of Cades Cove just outside the town of Gatlinburg. It is darker and hillier though. Many of the trails start from this area, as was evidenced by the many parked cars at each of the trailheads along the way. Parking at the back end of the Baskins Creek Trail and walking about 50 yards along the trail leads to the Bales Cemetery. I've been there previously, but had not taken as many photos. This time the gate was open and I ventured inside to get many more photos, including the "one little headstone" photo below.

A final cemetery we visited was not in the park, but certainly in the shadow of the mountains there. It was the Huff Cemetery, in far eastern Sevier County, almost into Cocke County. We went in search of this cemetery to look for Revolutionary War Soldier Joseph Large. Luckily the graveyard was easy to find next to the road, and well kept. Aside from some obvious signs of vandalism, this was a very nice little cemetery. Strange how my camera battery died JUST as I photographed the marker for the found soldier. I took it as a sign, just to say "hey thanks for looking for me". But then I'm weird like that.