Located a little over a mile back the Little Cataloochee Trail, the Hannah Cabin was built in 1864 by John Jackson Hannah, the son of Little Cataloochee pioneer Evan Hannah.

John Jackson Hannah originally moved to the spot in 1857 and lived in a smaller board cabin before building the the structure that still stands today. In fact, the cabin’s chimney is one of only three surviving brick chimneys left in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

After John’s death ownership of the cabin passed to his son Jim who remained there until the area became part of the national park in the 1930s. In his day, Jim was known to be a farmer, beekeeper, sawyer, justice of the peace and a Sunday school teacher.

During that period a rail fence enclosed the yard while a garden, an apple orchard and fields spread out around the cabin.

It’s said that the lower end of the porch was Jim’s favorite spot in later years as he would shout “Republican Talk” to people passing by on the road just below the cabin.

Upon leaving the Hannah Cabin if you continue on down the Trail another half mile or so you’ll reach the Little Cataloochee Baptist Church & Cemetery, another wonderful spot to visit on this pleasant hike.

Cataloochee Valley isn’t the easiest location to reach in the Great Smokies and reaching the Little Cataloochee Trailhead requires even more time and effort but it’s well worth it. It’s a lightly used but scenic trail consisting of historic structures and long ago memories of days gone by.

Today the Hannah Cabin is a peaceful reminder of those once bustling days of Cataloochee Valley.  If you have the time it’s a wonderful area to visit….