The cabin on Locust Ridge had a single main room, no electricity and no running water. Twelve children slept several to a bed; the youngest were bathed in the creek in summer and a tub by the stove in winter.
The famous coat was made of scrap fabric a customer had left with the family. It was patched together and explained to a child as something special, which is the exact mechanism by which poor houses produce rich memories.
A replica now stands at Dollywood, rebuilt from her memory of the room rather than from any plan, because no plan was ever drawn.
Memories attached to this place
“Everybody on the ridge had a garden and nobody had a dollar.”
“You learned harmony because there was nothing else to do after supper.”
“The creek was the bathroom, the laundry and the swimming pool.”
Timeline
- 1946Born in a one-room cabin on the Little Pigeon River.
- 1950sThe family works the ridge; music is made on the porch.
- 1971"Coat of Many Colors" released.
- 1986A replica cabin is built for visitors.
The smallest house on this list produced the most quoted line about one.
