A Walk in the Past, Fort Loudon

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For years I have wanted to take a walk in the past at Fort Loudon. I have an interest in the French and Indian War and how it brought about the country we have today.  Having  wanted to visit the Fort for several years, I decided to drive a little over an hour from Gatlinburg to see it.  The fort is a great place to learn about our history.  Many people think that all the English lived on the East Coast until Daniel Boone opened up the land across the mountains.

In 1756 The English and Cherokee built the Old Fort further West than Boonesborough.  Boone built Fort Boonesborough twenty years latter in 1775. Fort Loudon’s main purpose was to help defend the Cherokee from attacks by the French and their Native American allies.

Fort Loudon

Even though you may not be a student of history, you would enjoy the beauty of the land around the Fort.

Lake at Fort Loudon

The Cherokee destroyed the old fort around 1760. It was rebuilt using the notes of  John William G. De Brahm, the original designer of the Fort. The first reconstruction started in 1935. Later the Tennessee Valley Association built a dam forming the Tellico Lake.  After securing the land the TVA  agreed to move the reconstructed fort to its current location.

 

Fort Loudon was much larger than I expected.

 

Outside the walls of Fort Loudon are examples of Cherokee homes.

The Cherokee built two types of houses, one with solid walls is an example of a winter home, whereas the open walled house was for summer use.  Lake Tellico now covers the original sites but the stories and History carries on.

Above is a photo of the original locations of Fort Loudon and the Cherokee village.  

Fort Loudon is a beautiful place to visit.  We took a picnic lunch to enjoy while we sat and looked at the lake and mountains.

 

Gatlinburg Fire, Treetops Part 3

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The Gatlinburg fire has been several years ago and many have forgotten it.  We however think about it every time we return to the city and even more at Treetops resort.  I wrote two post about the fire and our adventures during it, but for some reason I never told about the next day.

   We woke up the next day to find that our clothes from the night before smelled like smoke and had ash on them.  We cleaned up and went to eat at IHOP.   After eating we decided to drive back to Gatlinburg and if possible to Treetops.   The night before we had gotten most of our things loaded into the car, but we had left all the food we had bought for the week and possibly other things we could have over looked.   As we drove toward Roaring Fork Road, we saw a lot of the destruction caused by the fire.

Roaring Fork Road

At last we arrived at Treetops.   Looking across the creek we saw what the Gatlinburg Fire had done to the resort that we loved.

The Day After

The photo above was our first good view of the resort.   We felt better about our decision to get out after seeing this.  Treetops appeared to be destroyed.

Gatlinburg Fire

A couple of months later we returned to Gatlinburg and Treetops to see how things were going.   We drove across the bridge and got this next photo.

The room we were in

The room we were staying in, at the time of the Gatlinburg Fire, was the top floor behind the two men.  I get an odd feeling wondering what would have happened had the fire been three hours latter when everyone was asleep.   It was bad but we have gone back every year.  This year we went the first week of December and stayed at Treetops. Finally here are a couple of happier photos to end on.

Our Room
Christmas at Treetops
Christmas Lights