Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Cades Cove Subdistrict, National Park Service

Hasty, David; Wheeler, Beth; Fogelquist, Sara

The Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery is a 1.4-acre component landscape of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located on the Cades Cove Loop Road in Eastern Tennessee. Access to the church and cemetery, sited on the crest of a hill, is by the historic approach located south of the Cades Cove Loop Road. The site features a church and cemetery bounded on the north by a picket fence. The cemetery is enclosed by cable-wire fencing. The Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery landscape serves as a cultural resource related to the early settlement and ongoing evolution of a southern Appalachian farming community, as well as an example of vernacular architecture of the region. One of the earlier symbols of community in a typical cove setting was the establishment of churches, usually constructed as a single room due to the small congregation size and emphasis on singing and preaching. The period of significance for this site begins in 1832, when a log meeting house was built. The Cades Cove Baptist Church had existed as an independent entity since June 29, 1829 after formally separating from the congregation known as the “Cades Cove Arm of the Wear’s Cove Church.” Until the log house was built, meetings were held in the school house or in private homes. In 1836, William Tipton deeded the title to the property to John Oliver and Peter Cable as agents for the Baptist Church. In the early 19th century, divisions in the American Baptist Church over missionaries and seminaries caused members of the Cades Cove Baptist Church to break away and form the Missionary Baptist Church. The older church then became known as the “Primitive Baptist Church” in 1841. Even considering this, membership in this church was always greater than any other denomination in the cove. The present structure - a rectangular, front-gable frame building - was constructed in 1887 to replace the log structure. The cemetery associated with the Primitive Baptist Church is the oldest of the church burial sites in the cove, and early settlers such as the Olivers, Cables, Gregorys, and Shieldses are buried here. The period of significance extends to 1942, to include the Park Development Era improvements. The NPS decided to make Cades Cove an "Outdoor Museum of Mountain Culture," and the Primitive Baptist Church did appear on early (1942) Park Development Era maps of the sites to be "restored." Church members, however, obtained a Special Use Permit that allowed them to maintain the building and grounds until 1971. It is unknown what changes to the historic landscape were made during this time. Subsequently, the park assumed maintenance and preservation responsibilities for the site. The circulation system around the cemetery was rehabilitated in 1991 and does not reflect any historic configuration. It is not known if the paling fence is an accurate representation of what was there during the historic period. The historic approach has remained intact. The area surrounding the church and cemetery consists of hemlock, white pine, and tulip poplar, with a relatively open understory of occasional holly trees. A gravel and dirt path provides pedestrian circulation around the cemetery and connects with a trail that accesses the site from the west. The location of the original log church, which stood just to the rear of the present church, is marked by a rise of ground.

Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Cades Cove Subdistrict, National Park Service

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