The Cantilever Barns of Cades Cove Tennessee

The cantilever barns of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park are quite a sight to behold. Dating back to before the turn of the century the barns have the unique design that projects the loft areas over open ground. The theories on these barns vary depending on who you ask. One theory is that the government taxed the barn structure based on the square feet of the foot print. That sound logical except you would think that these types of barns would not be limited to such a small geographic region. The practical side to the design is that the lofts would get huge amounts of airflow in a typically damp environment, preventing the hay from molding. In the winters the hay could be dropped out of the loft into the covered areas, out of the elements. The lack of post also was nice to to have to deal with in moving farm equipment around.

The barns almost exclusively were built on the Tennessee side of the Smoky Mountains. A few examples were known to exist in Kentucky and North Carolina, but the main concentration was Eastern Tennessee. There were two types of Cantilever barns, two pen and four pen. The barns were built to the exact needs of the farm, no expenses were made were none were needed. The barn was the center of the homestead. Often the contents of the barn were more valuable then the home itself. The park service does a wonderful job upkeeping these treasures that are often overlooked by visitors to the park.

These barns pictured on this page are easily accessible from the Cades Cove auto loop in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Another great example of this type construction is at the Mountain Heritage Museum in Townsend, Tennessee, just outside the park. The museum is also a great showcase of turn of the century life and before.

To submit images, simply email with photos attached to michael@imountain.net and please list photographers name and location of barn so that we can appropriately list the image.

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