A Door To The Past - a photo on Flickriver

A Door To The Past

HDR image of the entry to the Walker Sisiters cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. See more "Smoky Moments" at my online gallery. www.smokymoments.com

Copyright 2009 Gordon Brugman

Some interesting info, gleaned from online sources, follows:

Deep in the woods of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park lies the farm of the Walker Sisters. "The Walker sisters are a good example of the pride within the mountain people," said Herb Handly, executive vice president of tourism at the Smoky Mountain Convention & Visitors Bureau. The sisters’ cabin stands as a monument of Smoky Mountain heritage from the despair days of the Depression. The sisters were from a family of 11 children, four boys and seven girls. The boys and one sister, Sarah Caroline, moved away to different parts of the country. This left the farm to six of the sisters, Hettie Rebecca, Margaret Jane, Polly, Louisa Susan, Martha Ann and Nancy Melinda. They believed in self-suffciency and were known to say that their land produced everything they needed except sugar, soda, coffee and salt. The farm contained a grape arbor, an orchard, an herb and vegetable garden, sheep, hogs, fowl and milk cows, according to the National Park Service’s "At Home in the Smokies Handbook #125." "Because the sisters’ cabin still stands, we can learn a lot from the visual history of their lives," said Handly. "It’s hard to explain the heritage of the Smokies unless you see it before you." The walls of their home were decorated with newspaper where dried food, seed bags and spice racks dotted the walls. Their cabin represented the way of life of the mountains. As the government purchased land throughout the Smokies to build the national park, the sisters refused to leave their way of life. They would not sell their land. In January of 1941, however, the sisters succumbed to the national park and sold their 123 acres to the government for $4,750. This sale included a lifetime lease to the sisters. The Saturday Evening Post wrote an article on the sisters in 1946. As a result, their farm became a tourism hot spot. The sisters accepted the tourism and sold mountain souvenirs to tourists. A sign was placed on Highway 73 to indicate the location of the farm. As the years passed away, so did the sisters. By 1953, there were just two sisters left, Margaret Jane and Louisa. At the ages of 80 and 72, they asked the park superintendent to help them with the farm and take down the Highway 73 sign. The park complied and helped the Walker farm until the last sister, Louisa, passed away in 1964. Today, the small cabin of the Walker sisters still rests deep within the woods of the Smoky Mountains. A constant reminder of the six determined sisters and the pride of their mountain heritage.

Taken on: October 4, 2009

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Sets appears in: • HDR • Days of Yore

Groups appears in: • Nikon Digital • PhotoShop more » • History : images without words don't document • Great Smoky Mountains National Park • HDR • East Tennessee Outdoors • Photomatix • Quality HDR • HDR NO HOLDS BARRED • HDR Unlimited • Tennessee Photographers • NIKON PROFESSIONAL • GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS ❤ National Park • Nikon D40/x Users • Right Place / Right Time • Great Smoky Mountains • Nikon D40/x 18-55mm Users • East Tennessee Photographers • Tennessee Photographer • HDR~Lucisart~Orton (AWARD 1) • Jesters Challenge Group • Extraordinary Compositions • Nikon HDR • ALL Welcome - I am sick of 'rules and regulations - New Contest • Outdoor Photographers of the Southeast • *****FlickHDR Ortoners Dragan BW Sepia Effects***** • HDR, The Way It Should Be • Go Into The Light! • Photography lovers - life is beautiful • *Hit Me with your best shot* Fire away! • The Light Painters Society • Time Passes...Listen...Time Passes... « less

Camera: NIKON D40, f/18.0, 0.6 sec, 35mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	NIKON D40
Aperture:	f/18.0
Exposure Time:	0.6
Focal Length:	35mm
ISO:	200
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows
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