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134:) with Little River Gorge Road, passes near Little Greenbrier. A short gravel road leads from Lyon Springs Road to the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse. The rest of Little Greenbrier can be reached via short hiking trails, namely the Little Brier Gap Trail from Metcalf Bottoms, or the much longer Cove Mountain Trail from the Sugarlands Visitor Center several miles to the east.
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the porch and merged the larger cabin with the smaller McFalls cabin. By 1921, the cabin and farm had passed to five of Walker's daughters—Margaret Jane, Polly, Louisa, Hettie, and Martha—who had lived on the land their entire lives. The
National Park Service assumed control of the land when the last of the Walkers died in 1964.
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published an article on the Walker sisters that drew a flood of tourists to the area. The "kitchen" part of the cabin was built in the 1840s by early settler Brice McFalls. The larger cabin was built in the 1850s by Wiley King. His sons completed the chimney, and his son-in-law, John N. Walker, built
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The earliest documented settlers in Little
Greenbrier were Alexander McKenzie and Arthur "Brice" McFalls. McKenzie and McFalls, who had been neighbors in North Carolina , arrived in the 1830s. McFalls is believed to have built a cabin in the 1840s that was reassembled by later arrival John Walker as
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descent, moved their families to the flats around the confluence of Little Brier Branch and Little River that now bears their name. During the construction of Little River Road in the 1920s, members of the
Metcalf family supplied drinking water to road construction crews, and in appreciation the
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In the 1930s, the commission responsible for buying land for the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the Walker sisters to sell the homestead. Fearing bad publicity, the commission balked at forcing the Walkers out via condemnation suits. The Walker sisters
195:(sometimes referred to as the King-Walker Place after its primary builders) was the home of five sisters who refused to sell their 166-acre (0.7 km) plot to the national park and maintained their traditional mountain life into the 1950s. In 1946, the
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Little
Greenbrier is located in a gradually-ascending valley on the southwestern flank of Cove Mountain. This mountain links up with the eastern flank of Roundtop Mountain to form a long wall-like ridge that provides a natural boundary between
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and the national park (the park boundary roughly follows the ridge crest). Little Brier Branch, its source near the top of Cove
Mountain, flows southward and drains Little Greenbrier before emptying into
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functioned as the community school until 1936. Over its 54-year history, it was used as a schoolhouse under the supervision of nearly 50 teachers, and it was the house of worship for a
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who convinced them to sell the land (Roosevelt was in the area to dedicate the national park in 1940, but there is no known record of a visit to the Walker place).
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Greenbrier
Cemetery is located next to the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse. In many ways, the cemetery is representative of typical
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finally sold the farm in 1941 in exchange for a lifetime lease. A local legend claims the sisters were paid a visit by
President
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82:. Little Greenbrier was once known simply as "Greenbrier," but "Little" was added to distinguish it from the larger
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picnic area later established in the area by the
National Park Service was named for the Metcalfs.
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National
Registration of Historic Places Nomination Form for Little Greenbrier School-Church
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cemeteries. Constructed on a slope, nearly half of the graves are those of children.
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National Registration of Historic Places Nomination Form for King-Walker Place
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Around the time of the Civil War, William and Riley Metcalf, two brothers of
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74:. The community was situated in a valley rising from Metcalf Bottoms along
253:(Gatlinburg, Tenn.: Great Smoky Mountains Association, 2003), pp. 217-230.
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Little Greenbrier schoolhouse, with Greenbrier cemetery in the foreground
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to the upper slopes of Cove Mountain, in the northeastern section of the
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church. It is located at the center of what was once Little Greenbrier.
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322:(Maryville, Tennessee: Myers & Myers Publishing, 2004), pp. 2-10.
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Lyon Springs Road, which connects Wears Valley Gap Road (
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The Great Smokies: From Natural Habitat to National Park
335:(Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2000), 168.
320:The Walker Sisters: Spirited Women of the Smokies
284:(Knoxville, Tenn.: Olden Press, 1993), pp. 85-88.
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66:community that is now an historical area in the
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222:The Greenbrier Cemetery at Little Greenbrier
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97:Little Greenbrier is currently home to the
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55:The King-Walker Place at Little Greenbrier
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366:Communities of the Great Smoky Mountains
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143:the "kitchen" half of the Walker Cabin.
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297:, 31 July 1973. Retrieved: 2009-09-21.
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361:Geography of Sevier County, Tennessee
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107:National Register of Historic Places
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80:Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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371:Appalachian culture in Tennessee
16:Historic community in Tennessee.
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103:Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse
251:History Hikes of the Smokies
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282:The Last Train to Elkmont
169:Little Greenbrier School
155:Little Greenbrier School
62:is the name of a former
318:Bonnie Trentham Myers,
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198:Saturday Evening Post
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68:Great Smoky Mountains
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193:Walker Sisters Place
179:Walker Sisters Place
127:at Metcalf Bottoms.
167:Built in 1882, the
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88:Mount Le Conte
37:35.6831°N 83.6386°W
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208:Franklin Roosevelt
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306:Strutin, 220-222.
173:Primitive Baptist
60:Little Greenbrier
42:35.6831; -83.6386
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86:located between
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72:East Tennessee
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125:Little River
120:Wears Valley
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76:Little River
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280:Vic Weals,
228:Appalachian
92:Mount Guyot
64:Appalachian
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355:Categories
344:Myers, 97.
234:References
84:Greenbrier
28:83°38′19″W
25:35°40′59″N
113:Geography
214:Cemetery
148:Cherokee
101:and the
138:History
191:The
90:and
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311:^
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