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History of
Serenity Falls Cabins
Tucked
tight up against the Smoky Mountains, this beautiful piece of property
has a charming history. When you leave the main road, route 32 and twist and turn down the narrow
country roads, it is hard to imagine that this was once a thriving
little village that featured a General Store and a grist mill owned by
the Caton family.
Still called Ed Caton's Place by most of the
local folks, A Bit of Eden serves as the family residence and the office of
Serenity Falls Cabin Rentals.
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The General Store |
A Bit of Eden |
William (Will) Caton, born in 1859, married Sarah Lindsey in 1882 and
built the home, now known as A Bit of Eden, on land given to him by his
father, Rev. Thomas Caton. No one knows for sure, but it is surmised the house was ready to move into when
they married.
Sarah and Will had seven children, but as was so tragic in those days, only
three sons survived. Ed, born in 1888, was the eldest the three sons. When
their father died in 1901, Ed then 12, helped his mother raise his
siblings, run the General store and work the grist mill. After Ed married,
he and his wife May took over the work in the store and mill.
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Ed and May Caton |
Front view of a Bit of
Eden |
Old
highway 32 ran right through the property in front of the main house and
the General Store. The store sold everything from fabrics to window panes, medications,
hardwares, sundries and food and it thrived right up until the Great
Depression. When the neighboring mountain land was set aside for the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, the Caton neighbors had to move off the
property. With the customer base gone, Ed closed the store and he and his
wife May moved to West Virginia where Ed worked in the coal mines for a
number of years. They rented out the Caton place while they were gone.
Old
highway 32 was relocated and the old road is now the driveway leading
into the Serenity Falls property. While it ends at the office/home, the
depression in the grass left by the highway is still several feet wide
leading into the woods like a ghost of the past.
Ed
and May returned to the property about the time that work was beginning
on Interstate 40. The home
was turned into a boarding house for highway workers during the late
50s. When Ed died, May
moved in with a daughter and the house remained empty for 18 years until
a couple from Pascagoula, Mississippi learned about it.
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Side view of A Bit of
Eden
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Ray
and Pattie Blackman were vacationing at a cabin they had purchased in
Cosby when they heard about a piece of land that was for sale with a
waterfall on it. Pattie
admits she was immediately intrigued even though the real estate agent
warned her about the terrible condition of the house and outbuildings.
Pattie
loved the challenge of restoring homes and when she climbed through a
broken window, she wasn’t surprised to see water running through the
home, rotting all the pine floors or to find the second story fireplace
had fallen through the floor. They bought the property in 1986 and
started cleaning it up. Work
on the house was completed the following year, but it was another ten
years before the Blackmans moved here permanently and decided to turn
the barn, the General Store and the grist mill into rental cabins. As they say, the rest is history!
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