Messer Barn | |
Location | southeast of Gatlinburg near Greenbrier Cove in GSMNP |
---|---|
Nearest city | Gatlinburg, Tennessee |
Coordinates | 35°41′13″N83°23′54″W / 35.68694°N 83.39833°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1875 |
NRHP reference No. | 76000166 [1] |
Added to NRHP | January 1, 1976 |
The John Messer Barn is a historic structure within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Porters Creek Trail in the Greenbrier valley, it was constructed in 1875 by Pinkney Whaley. The Whaleys later sold their farm to John H. Messer, who was married to Pinkney's cousin, Lucy.
In the 1930s, the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, which constructed the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club Cabin nearby, leased the barn from the National Park Service. The barn was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and is the last surviving structure from the pre-park Greenbrier Cove community. This barn should not be confused with the Messer Barn in Cataloochee, which was built by John's cousin, Will Messer.
The Messer Barn is a type of double-cantilever barn unique to East Tennessee and rarely found outside Sevier, Blount, and Cocke counties. The barn is one story with a hayloft, and measures 25 feet (7.6 m) by 45 feet (14 m). [2] The gabled roof, as with all double-cantilevers, has considerable overhang, allowing livestock shelter in inclement weather. Unlike the reconstructed double-cantilever barn at the Tipton Place in Cades Cove, the Messer Barn's overhang is supported by poles along the outer edge. [3]
The barn's foundation is dry-stacked field stone and is higher on one end to compensate for the hill slope. The barn interior consists of two pens, each divided into two stalls, with a "drive-through" in the middle. While the barn walls are built of wooden boards, the pens are built of hewn logs. The barn's hayloft consists of poles set on two-foot centers. [3]
Sevierville is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, United States, located in eastern Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The park contains some of the highest mountains in eastern North America, including Clingmans Dome, Mount Guyot, and Mount Le Conte. The border between the two states runs northeast to southwest through the center of the park. The Appalachian Trail passes through the center of the park on its route from Georgia to Maine. With 14.1 million visitors in 2021, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States.
Cades Cove is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The valley was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park. Today Cades Cove, the single most popular destination for visitors to the park, attracts more than two million visitors a year because of its well preserved homesteads, scenic mountain views, and abundant display of wildlife. The Cades Cove Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Laurel Falls Trail is an American hiking trail, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Sevier County, Tennessee. The trail ascends Cove Mountain, leading past Laurel Falls, one of the most popular waterfalls in the national park, en route to the summit of Cove Mountain and the Cove Mountain fire tower.
The Sugarlands is a valley in Tennessee within the north-central Great Smoky Mountains, located in the southeastern United States. Formerly home to a string of small Appalachian communities, the valley is now the location of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park headquarters and the Sugarlands Visitor Center. Lying just south of Gatlinburg, the Sugarlands is one of the park's most popular access points.
Little Greenbrier is the name of a former Appalachian community that is now an historical area in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. The community was situated in a valley rising from Metcalf Bottoms along Little River to the upper slopes of Cove Mountain, in the northeastern section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Little Greenbrier was once known simply as "Greenbrier," but "Little" was added to distinguish it from the larger Greenbrier located between Mount Le Conte and Mount Guyot to the east.
Roaring Fork is a stream in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. Once the site of a small Appalachian community, today the stream's area is home to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and the Roaring Fork Historic District.
Charlies Bunion is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of the Southeastern United States, characterized by a large boulder-like protrusion just below the summit on its otherwise-sheer northern face. The mountain is a rare instance of a bare-rock summit in the Smokies.
The Oconaluftee is the valley of the Oconaluftee River in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Formerly the site of a Cherokee village and an Appalachian community, the valley is now North Carolina's main entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Greenbrier is a valley in the northern Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. Now a recreational area located within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Greenbrier was once home to several Appalachian communities.
Cataloochee is a valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, located in the Southeastern United States. Now a recreational and historic area within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cataloochee was once home to a substantial Appalachian community and Cherokee hunting ground.
The Roundtop Trail is an American hiking trail in Sevier County and Blount County sections of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The trail traverses the crest of Roundtop, a 3,077-foot (938 m) mountain that straddles the park's northern boundary. This trail, which passes through a thick forest of pine and oak and provides vistas of the valleys to the north and the mountains to the south, is one of the least-used trails in the park.
The Noah "Bud" Ogle Place was a homestead located in the Great Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The homestead presently consists of a cabin, barn, and tub mill built by mountain farmer Noah "Bud" Ogle (1863–1913) in the late 19th century. In 1977, the homestead was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is currently maintained by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Tyson McCarter Place was a homestead located in the Great Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Before the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the 1930s, the homestead belonged to mountain farmer Jacob Tyson McCarter (1878–1950), a descendant of some of the area's earliest European settlers. While McCarter's house is no longer standing, several outbuildings— including a barn, springhouse, corn crib, and smokehouse— have survived, and have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Walker Sisters Place was a homestead in the Great Smoky Mountains of Sevier County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The surviving structures—which include the cabin, springhouse, and corn crib—were once part of a farm that belonged to the Walker sisters—five sisters who became local legends because of their adherence to traditional ways of living. The sisters inherited the farm from their father, and after the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was formed in the 1930s, they obtained a lifetime lease. The National Park Service gained control of the property in 1964 when the last Walker sister died. The surviving structures were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The Little Greenbrier School is a former schoolhouse and church in the ghost town of Little Greenbrier in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. Located near Gatlinburg in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it was built in 1882, and was used as a school and church almost continuously until 1936. When the residents of Little Greenbrier asked Sevier County to provide it with a teacher, the county replied that if the community would build a proper schoolhouse, the county would pay the teacher's salary. The land on which the school was built was donated by Gilbert Abbott, and the logs were provided by Ephraim Ogle and hauled to the site by oxen teams. Dozens of Little Greenbrier residents, among them John Walker, father of the Walker Sisters, gathered on an agreed-upon day in January 1882 and raised the schoolhouse.
The Alex Cole Cabin is a historic house in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States, along Roaring Fork within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The last remaining building of the community of Sugarlands, it was built by Albert Alexander "Alex" Cole (1870–1958). The cabin was originally located at 35°40′0″N83°31′17″W, across the Little Pigeon River from what is now the "Quiet Walkway" opposite the Huskey Gap Trailhead, just off Newfound Gap Road. After being placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s, the cabin was moved to the Jim Bales Place along the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.
Rose Glen was an antebellum plantation in Sevier County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. At its height, Rose Glen was one of the largest and most lucrative farms in Sevier County and one of the most productive in East Tennessee. While the farm is no longer operational, the plantation house and several outbuildings— including a physician's office, loom house, and double-cantilever barn— have survived intact, and have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Woolly Tops Mountain is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains in Sevier County, Tennessee. It has an elevation of 5,482 feet (1,671 m), and is located in the eastern half of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.