Back in the day...

There were quite a few remaining cabins and mills along the Parkway's route. We enjoyed stopping to check them out and get a sense of what it would have been like for the early settlers who chose to homestead in this part of the wilderness back in those days long ago. The first picture above is of Mabry Mill. This was the orginial structure where the Mabry's lived and ran this saw mill and grist mill. The inside of the mill is quite small and claustrophic. but I'm sure this was a very valueable business to have in this remote area.

The last picture is of a cabin lived in by a couple named Puckett. The woman's name was Orelena Hawks Puckett. She was born in 1837 and married at age 16 and lived to be 102! She became the midwife in this area after the age of 50 and she delivered more than 1000 babies during the next 52 years. She delivered her last baby the year she died, 1939. She was typically paid about $1 for a delivery or $6 if times were good. Otherwise, she took her payment in food or chickens or whatever the family could provide. She herself gave birth to 24 children but tragically none lived past infancy. You really had to be hardy souls and very self-sufficient to survive the harsh conditions of this life. We were very happy to be able to return to our car and everything we have in our 21st century lives and keep on rolling down the road. Do you think someday people will drive past what is remaining of my life and wonder how I survived? Interesting....