TENNESSEE'S CUMBERLAND COUNTRY

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In Cumberland, 29,000 acres of cut-over timberland were divided into small farms of five to 50 acres. The Steaders, as they were called, had to have good character and a rural background. The purpose was not only to give people a chance to own a farm, but also to create jobs and job skills. In creating the Homesteads Community, the Steaders were trained to be carpenters, stonecutters, and even electricians-since the homes were designed for all the then-modern conveniences, like electric stoves-as well as to utilize ancient crafts and skills. In these houses, therefore, you'll find hand-split shingles, real pine paneling, hand-hewn beams, and handwrought hardware for the doors and andirons for the fireplaces. The furniture was even made in a Steaders' factory, as were the cotton mattresses.

Some undeveloped land still sells for $100 an acre.

First to be built, however, was a family's barn, in which they lived while their house was constructed. Farm animals and tools were also provided by the government. (In addition, these homesteaders were often told what to grow, though this paternalistic attitude and the inevitable corruption on the part of some administrators often created resentment among the settlers.)

The community was also provided with a large, stone, steam-heated schoolhouse that was far superior to other county schools and still serves as a public elementary school. The nearby stone administrative building with a water tank/fire tower is now the Homestead Museum, run by Emma and Doyle Varden, children of some of the original homesteaders. (Doyle is a renowned artist, whose pen-and-ink drawings of country scenes are on display there.) Across the road, you'll find the nationally famous Cumberland General Store, which provided the community with the implements of self-sufficiency. Today, recently introduced computers keep up with the thousands of orders that come in from all over the country for many of the same products-calico, corn shellers, mule bits, pocket watches, cedar churns, wind chargers, washboards that were so popular and necessary many years ago.

Though newer houses are scattered among the stone cottages, many of the original families still occupy their homes and are considered an asset to the cultural life of the county. In fact, the Homestead area is one of the most desirable and (outside the resort communities) more expensive areas in the county in which to live.

Nearby Cumberland Mountain State Park (1,780 acres) was acquired in 1938 as a project of the Farm Security Administration to provide a recreational area for the 252 families selected to homestead in that sparsely populated section of Tennessee. It was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and contains the Crab Orchard stone dam and bridge, which was the largest masonry structure built by the CCC. Most of the other buildings are also made of this famous sandstone, and the park offers cabins, camping, swimming, boating, fishing, and other forms of recreation. (An Olympic-size swimming pool should be open next summer, and swim meets will most likely be held here.) The park's pretty restaurant overlooking the lake should also be mentioned, for it serves lunch and dinner year-round, and its lunch menu includes an enormous, extremely tasty buffet for only $3.99. When I marveled at the magnificent feast one could get at that price, I was reminded that in some Crossville restaurants you can get a meat and three vegetables for only $2.99.

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