7 Return to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center . . .
After my initial detour this morning, I returned to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, which is next to the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway, to tour the Mountain Farm Museum exhibit. I took some pics at the museum exhibit yesterday, but had my camera settings all screwed up. Somehow, the aperture was turned all the way down which made the photos almost completely white, (overexposed), when a setting other than "Auto" was used. Today's photos turned out much better once I corrected the error.
Oconaluftee is one of four visitor's centers located within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Originally, this was a Ranger Station built in 1940. A new "temporary" visitor's center built in 1947 was used until 2011 when the current "permanent" facility was completed.The Mountain Farm Museum is a collection of structures assembled together to give visitors an idea of what life was like on a mountain farm in the 19th century. The many buildings that make up the museum exhibit were moved to this location from various places within the park. The family seen on the marker is that of John E. Davis who settled in Deep Creek, North Carolina in 1885.
The many buildings that make up the outdoor museum have all been placed near the Davis Cabin specifically for that purpose. This is not necessarily how it would have been done back in the day, though. Homesteads in this era had to be completely self-sufficient. Settlers had to grow their own food, make their own stuff, and protect the food and stuff from what was lurking in the wilderness around them. Locations were prioritized. The most level land would have been reserved for the many gardens needed for survival. Food and meat storage buildings were usually placed near the cabin for convenience and security. Other outbuildings and structures, like the Woodshed and Ash Hopper shown in the photos above and below, were usually placed away from the farming areas.