Caudill Cabin

My husband and I went for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday, enjoying the fall colors. We stopped at an overlook in Doughton Park, which is part of the Parkway, to look down on the Caudill Cabin:

 

Caudill Cabin

 

My husband's grandmother, Phoebe Caudill, was born in this little cabin in 1904, the fifth child of Martin and Janie Caudill's fourteen children. The cabin was located at the upper end of a once-thriving mountain community named Basin Cove.

 

The cabin is located in the clearing in the lower left of the photo.



 

Now maintained by the National Park Service, the cabin can be visited by hiking from the nearest road (Longbottom Road in Wilkes County), and crossing Basin Creek about a dozen times, a distance of 4.8 miles. And once you arrive at the cabin, you must turn around and walk back out.

 

The Caudills and their neighbors traveled this same route on foot, horseback or wagon, reaching Longbottom Road and then traveling on to area general stores or the county seat in Wilkesboro. A school and church were located within the community.

 

Most of the homes in Basin Cove were destroyed in a flood in 1916 that occurred after the remnants of two hurricanes brought heavy rains to the area. The steep hills and saturated ground resulted in devastating landslides. Three people were killed in the July 1916 flooding, including Phoebe's younger brother, Cornelius Caudill, her brother Famon's pregnant wife, Alice Caudill, and Famon's mother-in-law. Alice's grave is alongside the trail as you hike in and out of the cove.

 



Alice Caudill's tombstone



The photo of Alice's tombstone was taken on an earlier trip, when we hiked to the cabin. We usually try to time our hikes when the leaves and snakes are fewer!

Descendants of Martin and Janie Caudill maintain a web page, Caudill Cabin, with some historic photos and additional information. Also, the Digital Blue Ridge Parkway's Driving Through Time site has several photographs taken in the 1940's.