The homestead of John Oliver's son, tucked a half-mile off the road — complete with a 'stranger room' porch for passing travelers.
Coming up on your right is the pull-off for the Elijah Oliver Place — and this one asks a little more of you. The homestead sits about a half-mile in from the road, on foot, along an easy trail through the woods and fields. If you've got the time and the legs, it's one of the most rewarding walks in the cove, because Elijah's place is a whole farmstead, not just a cabin — house, springhouse, smokehouse, corn crib, and barn, spread out the way a working mountain farm actually was.
Elijah Oliver was a son of John and Lucretia Oliver — the couple whose cabin we visited at the start. He was born in the cove, left for a time, and came back to farm this ground, raising his own family in the valley his parents had opened.
Look closely at the cabin and you'll spot something unusual: a small extra room built onto the front porch, with its own outside door. That's the 'stranger room.' In a valley this remote, travelers and peddlers passing through needed somewhere to sleep, and mountain hospitality demanded you take them in — but a cautious family didn't necessarily want a stranger inside the house with the children. So the stranger got the porch room: shelter, warmth, and a door of his own, separate from the family. Practical kindness, mountain-style.
If the half-mile walk isn't for you today, no worries — just picture that farmstead sitting quiet in the trees, and roll on.
Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0
