Those old mountain homesteads may be gone, their well-worn trails may be buried in Autumn leaves now, but all of the souls who planted those boxwoods and buttercups and wore those trails flat, they aren’t forgotten thanks to modern day people who care enough to keep their memory alive. 🇺🇸❣️ Thank you for sharing these amazing and historic areas with us, Tipper.

My Grandparents lost there place to TVA its still a bone of contention within the family. It brings a tear to my eye still when we get together and one of the cousins brings up a memory of the old place.

How cool that someone has a record of these lives and cares so much about it.

My grandma as a child lived in the mountains in Kentucky she would tell us so many stories. I never got tired of listening. I miss her so

Amazing how quickly the earth takes it all back.

I love to hear ol stories from days gone by and even more when someone that was familiar with the area and families can tell us the history..

What's amazing is that people built very self sufficient and independent lives there and then they just took it away from them because they could, to make it a park. I'll never agree that taking peoples homes or land is good for any reason. Great historical video though. Made me sad to think how those people must have felt to be told they had to leave.

Preserving history is one of the issues that generations to come seem to lack a sense of importance. But for us who have lived a while, History is the heart and soul of traditions. This is especially true in Appalachia.

I try and tell my Grand Child my History and hope some of it sticks , because once we are gone no one seems to give a hoot about what and who came before them . This is a very cool video and a beautiful area of our great Country .

Fascinating history, thanks for keeping the past alive. I was a park ranger stationed at Deep, Hazel and Twentymile Creeks in the 80’s. I was fortunate to have attended some of the cemetery decorations and more importantly, talk with the residents who once lived in these areas before the Little Tennessee River was dammed up. The National Park Service received ownership of the land where folks were displaced from and as such often was the target of understandably hard feelings. The river was impounded by the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 40’s for the purpose of creating electricity for the war effort. Aluminum was needed for airplanes and to help power the nuclear research in Oak Ridge. It’s unfortunate that these mountain folks got caught in this National defense effort. On a positive note, it is good to know that this land will never be developed or restricted from public use. This bit of history and the tales the land hold will be preserved as long as history allows.

My family is from Western North Carolina and I grew up in those mountains. I was so fortunate enough to land a job at Great Smoky Mountains National Park after I graduated college. It is home to me. Home is where your heart is. I even met my wife in the Appalachian Mountain specifically Pisgah Nat Forest. There is soo soo soo much natural and cultural history in these mountains. Such an amazing place. It has and always will be my favorite place. I cherish my family heritage and my time living and growing in those mountains.

On the Tennessee side, we've got a section in the park where people had their homes too. I love our mountains and there's nowhere else in the world like home. #DaughterOfAppalachia

It's so interesting to see old home places from the past. I love history. I have spent many many hours pouring over old photos in dusty old library archives researching my hometowns history and learning so much about where my ancestors lived. Thanks for sharing. In my town, we have what our local historical society calls "Dining with the Departed", where folks research different characters from our town past and learn their life story. On the night of the catered dinner, each person will be dressed as that past character and will appear to tell their life story. It is so much fun, and such a fun and interesting way to learn the history of the people and places from our past. Our museum members sell tickets for the big night and they always sell out fast.

It’s so awesome that you captured this history on video. In another generation no one will remember what was there.

I was born and raised in GA but my parents were from Graham county NC. I had ancestors that lived in and are buried in Cades Cove. I am familiar with much you talked about and have visited many of them including Hazel Creek. My relatives are still in the Robinsville NC area. I absolutely love the mountains.

How sad that the homes are gone, as well as the people that lived or visited there. Those woods were once full of life ♥️

What a beautiful place. Thank you for taking us along Tipper. The ingenuity and hard work of those that came before us is always astounding.

Thanks Tipper ! He’s right about the park keeping this area from becoming just gated communities and allowing some history to be explored- so interesting ! 💕

Such fond memories of living and working in the Smokys! I used to spend many days on horseback in Deep Creek, Indian Creek, Hazel, Noland and Forney Creek drainages, that’s what we call them in California. We used to boat relatives across Fontana Lake to one of the cemeteries and spend the day reminiscing with them while they honored their passed relatives. They were very gracious and wonderful people to talk to. They had some fascinating childhood stories.

Being from Appalachia myself it’s refreshing to have the truth being told. TVA , CC camp , and several other government agencies destroyed the lives of the mountain folk in the smokies and in previous years the Cherokee Indians . All of which I am an ancestor. If any of y’all know the Dunn’s or Ritchie’s share your stories. Greasy Creek TN and NC.

What a fascinating video, Tipper! I loved it. Thanks to Don Casada for all the work and information he provided. My family, too, has connections to these places. My grandchildren are direct descendants of the Cables from Cades Cove and Hazel Creek. We also have kin folk from Cataloochee. Branches of our family are all around here. I find such great pleasure in thinking about and seeing remnants of those days.

I loved camping in the Smokies as a child! I once worked as an archaeologist, and one of the ways I used to find old homesites was to look for ornamental plants and vegetation that is out of place. Seeing nature retake the land is amazing as well. I’m glad that it’s protected even though the displacements that often happened were very sad. One of my ancestors homes is under a lake created by a TVA made dam near Hazard, KY. The whole town was relocated up the hill.

Not only a lot of work, but engineering skills as well. And not everyone can do wood work. Nice work Tipper. ;*). Bonnie

It's good when someone can share these stories, gives people a glimpse of the past. Nature all around is beautiful. 👍💕

I remember sweeping the front yard . Grass grows there now . When I was child I thought it was a odd thing to do. Keeping the dust down . 💘 Nolands Creek .Thank you Tipper .

I’m happy that Katie joined you, too, ‘cause I just love that girl. She is going to be a wonderful, really cool mom. Take good care of yourself, both of you.

The Shenandoah National Park was also created by displacing the mountain residents. Often when I'm fishing or hiking in the Park I come across remnants of the old homesteads, mostly stone walls or partial stone foundations. And while I'm grateful for the national resource, I can't help but pause to think about those who made these hollers home but were forced off their land.

The scenery is so picturesque.

Thank God for Mr Don to share and provide photos from the beautiful smoky mountains

Thank you for taking us along!

Thank you so much for sharing Tipper & I love that noisy creek. Wonderful sound. I can just smell those woods. 💕🍁🍁🍁🌲🌲🌲🏞️🏞️🏞️🏞️

This was so nice and at the same time sad. They've gone now and so have their homes. The Appalachian area is such a beautiful area. Home IS where the heart is. I also wanted to tell you, Tipper, that I really appreciate your cooking videos. The time you take to help and teach us about the different kinds of foods there are in Appalachia and then all the clean up you have, just for us is muchly appreciated. Thank you from the bottom of this old man's heart.

So wonderful to roam those homesteads with y’all. Thank you!!!

How very fascinating. I could listen to theses stories all day. The homes were so beautiful, I can imagine their lives in such a beautiful area.

It is so important to preserve local history by recording it in as many ways possible; be it in writing, video or just old fashioned passed on stories. Wonderful video. Keep up the good work. 👍👍👍👍

What a grand video full of so much great history of the area. We stayed as visitors to Fontana in 1959. It was a great adventure for me! Thanks for this!

Noland Creek is beautiful! How neat that you and Don had family members who lived there! It's hard to imagine houses once stood in those woods. I love old pictures and enjoyed the before and after. How they floated logs was fascinating. Thank you, Tipper, for sharing!

So awesome to hear about the people who had homes there. Like stepping back in time. It truly is some pretty country.

Wow! It is amazing how quickly things can change so radically in such a relatively brief period of time! Such a beautiful home and now gone (Patterson Place). This is so fascinating to me to see the homes and people that were there. Thanks for sharing the walk with us! Jane in SC❤️🙏

I enjoyed seeing the old home places and seeing photos of the actual houses. It reminded me of my Louisiana grandparents home. They never had indoor bathroom and only running water in the kitchen sink in the early 60's. Thanks for sharing.

I can read about the past and its so interesting, but seeing the places makes me sad for the folks who are gone.

I really did enjoy learning more about the Smokies and the people that lived there back in the day. I know the people from that time lived a much harder but simpler life, but oh what a life it must have been.. A big thank you to everyone involved in the making of this video and thank you for posting it for us to see....

Great video and love your content. Good video.

It's sad the old home places are gone. And the woods took over so completely and quickly you can hardly tell they were ever there. My grandmother's log dogtrot is falling in on itself and being overgrown because one person in the family objects to recovering or moving it. It will go the way of so many of the old places up in the mountains. Sad. At least I have my memories of it.

What a delight to see all those pictures and compare it with the ACTUAL land. Amazing

These sort of things need to be kept alive. We're loosing so much so fast of our mountain culture. We need to reach the young ones and teach them the old ways and of the old people who got us where we are today

Thank you to everyone who cares about the past & shares with us. 💕

So much history in these beautiful mountains! Thx for sharing your video. I could watch these all day long!

One of the greatest videos I have seen from any creator. This is BEAUTIFUL!! Thank you for sharing.

This is happening all across the country - the countryside is emptying out of people. I grew up on a family farm in west-central Illinois, and I remember my mom commenting on how the homes that once had large farm families were sitting empty. No one lived there anymore. Today you can't even tell that there once was a house sitting there! We used to have neighbors living a quarter-mile apart, or so. The towns have gone from growing communities, with grocery stores, gas stations, blacksmith, theatre, and high school - now have nothing. We used to have lots of farm families, often with 5 to 11 kids. (I have 5 kids, now grown, and married, starting their own families.) The farms have gone from 100-500 acres, to thousands of acres being farmed by one family (Corporations). Our country is suffering, in many ways - from smaller families with 1 or 2 kids, to large suburbs. Thanks for sharing this video. It's interesting, and future generations will look back on this with appreciation!

Many of the old home places are just vague memories, unfortunately. Thanks for the video, Ma'am!

What a great afternoon. Thanks you!

It's amazing , I would listen to my grandmother talk about her mountain stories. She would sit on the couch and stare outside big picture window like she was looking at everything she was telling me. I could sit for hours. She has been gone now a long time😢 but I don't remember if I seen the pictures or she was such a good story teller I visualized it. But I see it clearly. I can see where she lived and down the mountain a little her Mommy lived.wow I haven't thought about those stories in so long ❤ ty

This is really amazing to hear about people who lived up in the Smokey Mountains and had a community of people that looked after each other I love seeing and hearing stories like these

Tipper thanks so much for sharing this beautiful and educational video of the older Appalachian mountains so loved it, I truly love watching your videos!! I have loved the mountains since I was a small child! I am 57 now and my Dad, Mom, Aunt, Uncle and Me as the earliest I can remember and looking at photos I was like 4 when we started coming to the Appalachian Mountains!!! I have now lost both of my parents 😔 and miss them both so very much!! I wish that Dad loving the mountains so much he would have bought a couple of acres of land back then in the late 60’s it would have been so much cheaper but Dad was a farmer and we lived in south Ga. I guess he never realized that I would want to live up there in those beautiful mountains cause if He had known that he would have did whatever he needed to and bought me some land to have later in life. I was an only child and was adopted so I was very spoiled! Lol anyway sorry to have told you all of that but I think I could sit down and listen to you all day talk about the mountains! If you ever hear of anyone Tipper that would like to sale just an am acre of land please let me know! Idk what paper to run an add in up there. Please keep up your videos it is such a blessing to be able to watch clean no cursing such informative videos! I am a Christian and I also love your daughters utube channel as well. They are both so very talented and I know that you are so very proud of them. May God continue to Bless you and your family!!!!🍁🍁🙏🍁🍁

Tipper i really enjoyed that video, its a shame the old places are gone, it just shows people back then did not mind working.

Honestly enjoyed this trip. Such beautiful land and loved seeing the homes that were once there and seeing the families. Thank you from Michigan!

I so enjoy your videos, Tipper. I love our mountains and their rich history. I was born and raised in the foothills in the northwestern corner of SC, where I live still. I have lived in other places from Michigan to Florida when I was a young mother, but this place is in my blood and a huge part of who I am. I can drive from my home in Oconee County, Seneca, SC and be climbing up the mountains in about 10-15 minutes or I can go East and be in Charleston at the beach in 3 1/2 hours. But, my heart is in the mountains. I feel so blessed to have been able to live most of my life here, and I love your videos. Y'all talk like I do. 😊 We've had a huge influx of "Yankees" in recent years, and some of them think of us natives as being ignorant "hicks" and I have to say that does ruffle my feathers a bit. 🤣

My grandfather grew up in Cataloochee Valley. They have a big reunion every summer for all of the families from there. We went this year for the first time. It’s beautiful up there.

Your commitment to keeping legacies alive is like honey to my soul. Thank you Tipper. Your God given unique spirit is like medicine to my family which leaves me longing to visit the area one day and face my fear of mountain roads. The beauty of Fall is wonderful here in Wisconsin, so I know it's must be breathtaking there. The good Lord's very best to you and your wonderful family.

I really enjoyed this venture. Thanks so much for sharing

This is so interesting. I hope someone has archived all of this history.

A different world. All that work done by hand and then just gone. Glad you are keeping the memories alive.

What a beautiful place to visit. I enjoyed hearing about the history.

This was such an interesting tour and Don’s narration and knowledge of the history, the families was fascinating. I’ll try to reference some of the links for Don’s work. It is good to have these national treasures preserved for future generations to see.

What a great blessing to have Don, who knows all about all those old home places and can explain the who, the what and when of those who lived there. Thanks for sharing.

This is so awesome to be able to walk around to all those places with someone that knew the ones that lived there...and had pictures. I have walked around the Cades Cove cemetery and looked at the gravesites. So neat to hear these stories.

When that girl reached down and told us that the metal was threaded at 18:04 timestamp, all I could think was POISON IVY! It was everywhere. This is a beautiful history. Thanks for sharing.

Wow what an amazing experience to hear a person who knows that land and the history of the families!!!! ❤️😊

It is so beautiful there! Thanks so much for sharing your tour with us!

Thanks Tipper, for sharing a piece of the Smoky Mountain National Park’s history. This park itself holds many great memories for me, from the time, I grew- up, my family used to camp in that park during summer vacation and, when, we no longer camped there we would go to a near by grocery store and grab some fried chicken and, all the fixins for a meal and, have a picnic,we would always try to find a picnic table where there, was creek bed not too far away. I love it, there even when, your near a lot of people you can still figure out how to shut the outside world out around you, it’s so, peaceful.

The chimneys always make me wish I could just be sitting around the hearth listening to the family on a cold winter’s eve! As a child I really enjoyed helping strip the purple hull peas we picked by the bushel into metal pans. They would ring!

I enjoy the old history. And feel the same connections in the old lumber towns of Northern Wisconsin. Great Channel!

This pulls on my heart. It reminds me of my family history in Oklahoma. My mother grew up in the depression in Sardis ok. They flooded the area, and made it a lake. The stories of my grandfather and grandmother are amazing. Grandpa had to go to the city for work eventually to send back money to survive. He finally moved the family to the city with him. So many had already left to California around that time. She said life was never the same. Her brother took his life shortly after. We too have books bound with old pictures of the Mccoys and Lockharts. Thanks for sharing.

Love listening to these old stories and seeing the old photos thanks for sharing

that would be a dream living next to that running stream! I would sleep so well at night hearing that sound! love it!

I like to hear old stories from the past. the home I live in! was a grocery store many years ago. my great aunt and uncle bought this place,and they lived in for many years. I like old homes and buildings. they could tell us many stories.

Somehow I havent seen this video. Just found it today. What a wonderful telling of the history of the area. Thank you for sharing.

Ms. Tipper I think the connection you have is the same one the folks that lived there had. I know it would be that way for me. Lots of times I will see a place and the beauty of it touches me and I will think to myself, I could live here in this spot. I'm sure it was that way with those who first came across this glorious land. It is such a shame folks had to give up their land and homes for progress. Matt looked at home out there in the woods and I understand why. Thanks for sharing!!

I think I saw this before. If I did I’m watching again! Love the rich history! Thanks for sharing! 😊🇨🇦

Beautiful places

Great memorys I thank u so much for u sharing this I enjoy the best of it I keep watching it over over again😀👍

Amazing how nature reclaims the land. Very nice to have this place as a National Park. I live close to National Park reclaimed land in 1943 and left behind the same results + a few cemeteries, fun to go out and explore especially in the spring when you can spot through the bare trees the flowers planted so many years ago around remaining home foundations.

You can find a LOT of information at the Archives of Appalachia as well. I love listening to stories of Appalachia! One of my favorite collections that I processed at the Archives was the "Golden Days" Collection of Richard Blaustein. I loved reading about the stories and culture and fun facts (and some sad news!). I processed other collections as well. Thanks for sharing this!

That was quite a hike in the woods! It was great to have Don as your guide since he has done so much research and knows who lived there. I remember hearing that there was a lot of unhappy people when they had to move out of their mountains for that dam to be built.

Thank you for this. We absolutely must recover and hold on to our culture and history. There are those who would burn our history and have it wiped from history, so I revel in the celebration and examination of OUR culture any time I can. Let us keep it alive!

Oh goodness , I sure did enjoy all that Don Casada shared …so so interesting to listen , see, & ponder over …. In marveling at all they built and how .. trying to picture in your mind how it looked around that log flume..the sound of those logs barreling down into the water … also the feet of all those gone before that walked up those steps into the warmth of their homes … I was wondering how far from Fontana Dam are you where you are ? We have been to Fontana Dam more than once and I was thinking we were looking out over the very area your sharing about…Tipper & Don Casada ,thank you for sharing all you did, and allowing us on the other side of the screen to somehow sorta tag along ..the pictures were amazing showing some of the people who lived on the homesteads , learning the time frame that they lived there , a priviledge to learn about ☕️✨❣️And that bearskin !!!! ….absolutely love the sound 🎶of the rushing waters .. 🎶

Wonderful video. This puts me in mind of my family's old homes down in West Virginia. There is nothing left of my family's old homes in the mountains. So many good people got ripped off by big coal companies and lost all of their land or sold it for a fraction of it's value. The old railroad beds is all that is left in some of those old places.

I just loved this video so much history

Now, I grew up in rural west TN. However, much of what people do in Appalachia we do. My father grew up in Missouri & I realize my great grandmother lived in the culture of the Ozark mountains. Now, I’m 51 & as I look at my family line, some lived in the Smokies. I think that explains why I relate to most of what is shared here. I miss all the fun I had as a child. Who needs toys when you have nature ? Me, my siblings and cousins played out day and sometimes at night. I wish my children could’ve grown up the way I did. Sure, I had to work in the gardens, stack & bring in wood & had few toys. But it was wonderful! I apologize for my long comment. My father passed away recently. And my mind is on those great memories.

Your video is a well done treasure, such beautiful country. Thank you so much for sharing the people and places❤️

That was a lot of fun, very interesting! Thank you for taking us along.

Amazing video. Thanks for sharing.

Oh wow...this is fantastic to hear about people's lives and see the pictures then the actual site. This is a huge treat...thank you so much !!

Thank you for sharing Nolan’s Creek

The guided tour of the Noland Creek area was very interesting, Tipper. Thanks for posting it.

I love to hear these old stories. I can imagine some of Louisa's school kids living in some of those houses and maybe that corn growing on the slope by their houses was..hmm. And their granny took them down to buy flour and meal so they could pick out the sacks with patterns they liked for making a dress later. Sorry for ramblin. Thanks for the history lesson. 🤗

I've explored that area... Beautiful Backcountry... Also down at Fontana Dam and Lake... Camped out many times on the river below the dam. Good fishing 🎣 The Road To Nowhere is a part of the Noland Creek Trail as well. It was supposed to be built so that the families could have access to the graves of their loved ones that had been moved during the construction of the lake and dam. But sadly, the road was never completed. Whole town's were covered by the water, such as Protor and Judson... Thanks for sharing this very informative and interesting video... I truly enjoyed it and appreciate all you and your family do to educate others, and preserve your heritage. ✌️ 😎 🌹 🦅 After watching and listening a little closer, I realized that this area was a part of your family history... Very cool... A wonderful heritage...

I'm going on vacation to Sevierville TN next month and my #1 must have was to make sure my cabin had a great view of those gorgeous Smoky Mtns!! I'll take that over a view of the ocean anyday! Thanks for the lovely video very informational and interesting! ❤ It's amazing & beautiful how mother nature takes the land back you'd never know a house was there. I kinda got teary eyed seeing and listening to the whole story.

So fascinating! I think the best job in the world would be researching history in a certain area, hunting for old photographs and stories from the descendants of that area, and piecing everything together to reconstruct what the area was like in days of old. When I visited Fort Snelling in Hennepin County, Minnesota, they were reconstructing some of the buildings of the original fort. There were some original stone foundations that they were still researching. The military fort was built in 1819, and was originally homeland to the Dakotas at one time, and also where immigrants passed through. It is near the Mississippi River. I remember standing there trying to imagine the old fort bustling with life. It was kind of hard to do with the busy runway of the Minneapolis International Airport not far away. But it was neat to be there anyways. Visiting Nolands Creek with you was wonderful. The sounds would have been what the earlier inhabitants heard. I could stand there and let my imagination run wild. I really enjoyed seeing the old photographs. I like to visit websites of various communities that have pictures and stories of the history of their local area. I love to armchair travel like that. And when I am actually out traveling around, near or far, it’s in the historical buildings and areas you will find me. I am so glad the developers did not get their hands on the Nolands Creek area you took us to. I know communities need new homes, business and shopping areas for financial growth, but it makes me so sad to see history lost, and beautiful scenery congested with progress. I think it is ironic that housing tracks of 200+ homes go in a pretty wooded area where every tree is cut down so there is flat land to build those homes, and then they name the housing development “Such-n-Such Forest” and you are thinking “Forest? Where are the trees?” They were all destroyed in the name of progress. I will get off my soapbox. I do believe the connection you felt at this place and others, is probably in your blood. Your ancestors walked there, and part of each of your ancestors is in you. Not only do you inherit physical features, but I think we inherit so much more. Have you ever had such a strong feeling of being at some place before, but yet, you have never been there until now? Or feeling a sensation, emotion, or any kind of deja vu, yet you never ever did whatever you are feeling? (Am I making sense?). I often wonder if we get those strong memories from our ancestors. Crazy, huh? I don’t believe in reincarnation - I believe strictly what the Bible says - we get one life, and when it’s done we go to Heaven or hell. That’s it. We don’t get another life in another year. So the only way my brain can explain those strong “I’ve done this before” moments is if it is something inherited. What do you think? I loved this video! I would love to visit many more places like it, or go to your local museums with you, etc. that would be fun! Thank you for this wonderful outing! Donna. : )