Located near the beginning of the Cades Cove Loop Road, the John Oliver Cabin was built in the early 1820’s by John and Lucretia Oliver, the first permanent white settlers of Cades Cove. A short trail leading from a parking area off the Cades Cove Loop Road will lead you back to the John Oliver cabin.

A veteran of the War of 1812, Oliver arrived in the cove sometime prior to 1820 via an old rugged Indian trail. Oliver had been persuaded to come to the cove by a man named Joshua Job. The Olivers remained in the cove alone their first winter there and nearly starved to death. They survived on dried pumpkin that was given to them by friendly Cherokees in the vicinity.

John Oliver would later legally purchase the land where the cabin stands in 1826 and the cabin would remain in the Oliver family until the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in 1934.

John Oliver died in 1864 and he and his wife are buried nearby at the Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church.