Samuel Cleage House and History

Above: some sort of insulator with porcelain insert and metal housing. Not sure what it was from.  It was laying along the bank of Little North Mouse Creek across from the Cleage house  half buried in mud. 

Samuel Cleage House and History

Saturday Feb. 6, 2021 and Tuesday Feb. 23, 2021

Dana & Kenny Koogler 

Pictures are here: Samuel Cleage Historic Photos

Information for the Samuel Cleage House

 and The Scream Chamber Haunted Attraction

(click link to go to their website) 

Address is : Highway 11, 1163 North, Athens, TN 37303

Waypoint is 35.490141, -84.57979

Cleage Cemetery is located at 35.482684,-84.593630

  I am very interested in history.   I am interested in old buildings and abandoned places.   I am thrilled with a spooky story that can give me the shivers.  I'm not a believer in ghosts.  I'm a skeptic, but I've had friends who told me stories that are unexplainable and I believe them.   I am not at all a fan of gory, bloody, slasher films or what I call 'booger movies" like The Walking Dead and its Zombie Apocktaclipse.    I hate all that mess.  I figure over the years at work I have filled my head up with enough negative and scary.    

    I got to reading Amanda Gamble's stories and histories.  Checking out her documentation of the Samuel Cleage house.  I wanted to see it for myself.  I had a list of stuff I wanted to see and do in the Athens vicinity.  It was a back burner project.    We had a death in the family when Lydia's sweet sister, Liz passed away unexpectedly a couple weeks ago.   

     I was upset over it.   I was down and all the plans I'd had just did not matter anymore.   I was crying off and on all day and not sleeping the best.   I got up Saturday morning and kind of moped around.   Kenny finally said "You can't let this destroy you.  You need to get out of the house for a little while.  Think of something.. anything you want to do for a couple hours and we need to go get your mind off this."  I knew he was right.   I browsed through my lists and ideas and finally the only thing that struck me as interesting was a drive to Athens. 

    I told him I wanted to go down there and see the Cleage House.  I knew where it was. I knew that it had long sat abandoned, but had more recently been turned into a haunted attraction.  I wrongly thought that it was an operation that ran only during the Halloween season.   Oh no... it runs year round.   I'm not a big fan of that sort of thing anyhow, but I knew that as raw as my nerves were I was in no condition to put up with something like that.   I figured that would be the last straw for me.   So I had to settle for getting some shots of the house from outside.

     It was not a very satisfactory experience.  They have modified this historic home in ways that are unappealing and to me inappropriate.  I kept telling myself that I should be grateful the old place was still standing and being given a second chance at life.    I might not love the next incarnation of it, but it has helped it survive.   The Cleage house is now known as The Scream Chamber. 

    Here is a little bit of the history of the man and his family as I have been able to gather from various sources.

Above: photo of the Cleage house in its current incarnation as The Scream Chamber. Of course all the advertising logos and that big long, black wooden part were built on by the new outfit. Including the wooden steps on the side. 

Above: another view of the Cleage house and from this angle you can see the "Flemish Gables" the highlighted circle at the top left corner of the photo.... on the roof of the house illustrates how the gable end extends past the roof line.   It seems to be like that on both ends.  

   Samuel Cleage was born Pennsylvania and moved around to Botetourt County, Virginia. He moved to Tennessee in the years 1823-1825. I have found two differing accounts.  He was a businessman, brick mason, and contractor.  He arrived in Tennessee around age 42 and brought with him his family.  The moved to the area around Athens and settled on a farm.   It was land that had been seized by the government from the Cherokees.  He was a slave holder and moved them with him to Tennessee.  It seems from what I've read he treated his slaves pretty well. He educated them in masonry and most of them took the Cleage name willingly because of his fair treatment. I did read that once many of his slaves obtained freedom they did not cut ties with the family, but remained close. To this day many of them still trace their lineage back to the man and his family.     I highly object to the whole slavery thing, but I have to remind myself it was a different time.  I can't change it.   By the time he would have moved around forty plus years of age I expect his children were possibly even adults and may have begun families of their own back in those times.  

   It was a long trip to make back then by road especially with all those people and animals and furnishings, equipment to tote along.   It appears he was an itinerant worker along the way. Building houses and such as he made his way down south from Virginia.  They not only had to build the houses by hand of brick, but MAKE the brick!   It is no telling how long the trip actually took.   I'm guessing a couple years.  Depending upon the route chosen the trip would be either longer or shorter.  It could have been as short as 340 miles or as long as 370 miles.  

           The house he constructed on the "Mouse Creek Farm" parcel he bought which ended up being around 3000 acres of ceded land, was a fine looking brick home.  He was a master mason and it had all kinds of special architectural touches not usually seen. He used Flemish bonding which I have learned means that alternating bricks have their short sides showing.  You can check out the photo below as an example of this.  I imagine it was stronger than most typical brick construction. The type house he built was popular at the time with more well to do persons.  It is an old Federal style house. It also has "Flemish Gables" which are the gables that extend above the main structure of the house or roof for aesthetics.

He must have been quite talented as the house still stands to this day, and while aging is basically sound. 

     

Above: an enlarged photo trimmed out of the house image.  It illustrates the Flemish bond of the brick. Alternating short bricks with lengthwise ones.  Pretty and strong!

   I am considering what drew him to Tennessee?  I am betting it was the newly acquired large tracts of land that the government wanted resettled by whites.  I have read varying reports over how much land he owned exactly.  I read 1800 acres, then I read 3000 acres.  I sat down with the deeds and added it all up and came up with 4, 044 acres of land all told.  I expect that the amount of Tennessee red clay soil was a draw also.  It would have been excellent for brick making.   Tennessee also has lots of sandstone and sand was needed in brick making.  It was used as a sort of flour or no stick agent when molding bricks.   You know when you make biscuits or rolls a baker will flour the dough to be able to handle it?  Brick making from clay was done sort of like this.  The sand was like the flour in order to be able to handle the clay and form it into bricks in molds without having it adhere to the mold!   

Above:  When we pulled over on the side of the road for me to photograph the house in the distance... I looked to my right and saw this very decayed old bridge.  It crosses Little North Mouse Creek to what would have been the remainder of the Cleage Farm.   From a satellite view you can see the ruins of a barn, two silos and several sheds buried within the trees and weeds.  

    I walked down the embankment to get a closer look at it.

Here is a view down the creek from the bridge. It is rather pretty. 

Above: a better look at the bridge from the stream bank.  The under pinning and frame is metal and still pretty sound!  

Above: I could look across the creek and see this one building in the weeds.  I could see the tops of the silos , but that was it.  

        Samuel Cleage was married to Mary Stanback Cleage. Together they had three children Alexander, David, and Sarah.   He became a very wealthy, successful man with a nice family.       Today some say the Cleage house is haunted.   It turned out that Samuel Cleage was murdered and died there in the house.   He got into some sort of disagreement between himself and a man named Ambrose Griffith.  No one to this day knows the exact nature of the argument, but it escalated to the point Griffith stabbed Mr. Cleage.   On July 17, 1850 he was stabbed by Griffith.  He was taken to the house and tended and lingered. aware of his condition and likely demise.   He was a good man and forgave his killer before his passing.   I cannot even imagine the horror.

He passed away on July 20, 1850 upon hearing this Mr. Griffith fled the area. Far as I know he was never seen or heard from again.   I do not think he was ever punished for his crimes.   Samuel Cleage, his wife, his children, and some of the slaves are interred in the Cleage Cemetery out along Mt. Verd Road in Athens, TN.

  I visited and found it with the help of Mark Gilreath who is a friend who lives and works in the area.   At the time of my visit I found the cemetery in rather poor repair, but someone had visited and had marked graves. Even burials with no visible memorial stone.   They probably went by the depressions in the ground of which I found plenty.  I am estimating there were around 20 burials in that cemetery that I was able to discern by the flags, stones or depressions in the ground.    There could easily be more.   

       Another reason why folks say the place is haunted is because one of the slave women split a man's head open with a meat cleaver.   It was a Union soldier back during the Civil War.  The tale was told of a Union soldier bursting into the house suddenly.  Food raids were common in those times because people were starving.  He saw nothing valuable so instead he spat into the freshly baked pan of Mamie's cornbread which was all the family had to eat.  She was enraged and split his head open upon the spot killing him.   I have read one horrible but brief account of an infant being killed by a crazed nanny in the Cleage house, but I cannot verify that by another source.  All the tales above have been confirmed from two sources.

      I am not a believer in ghosts, but then I've never seen one.  I will watch spooky things on t.v. and be like "Oh Lord! that is so scary! I bet I won't be able to sleep tonight!" Later that night I'll catch myself getting up to pee or get a drink of water in the kitchen with no lights on.  I will think back to the day and what I saw on tv and I laugh like crazy.  I am too dense to see ghosts I imagine.  I must be too dumb to get scared.  Long as the ghost would let me sleep I'd not care. Just let me go back to bed and let me alone.  Anyone or anything messing with my sleep is apt to cause a fight. 

    I will update this entry if and when I get to tour Cleage House on March 27th. 

 Below are some photos of the graves in the Cleage Cemetery. 

It is interesting to note that the McMinn County Historical Society is kept busy periodically assisting people to find out more about this interesting family.  Many of the relatives come seeking info from all around.  That is a fine legacy just by itself not to mention the many stout, attractive buildings in Tennessee and Virginia that owe their existence to Cleage and Crutchfield Construction! 

It pleases me especially to know that the slaves who trace their family history back to him have descendants who come looking just the same and still have a bond with this family.  

   Below: another infant burial only around six weeks old.  Poor little thing. 

This with the flag, the slight depression in the ground and the stone is a burial, but I don't know who. 

Above: wrought iron enclosure at the beginning of the cemetery. all it surrounds is two trees. I am guess it was protection for newly planted trees and ornamental as well. 

Above: Jacob Malone marker. 

Above: Cassius Smithson another infant burial 7 months old. 

Above: the Samuel and Mary Cleage monument was the largest in the cemetery. 

I could not make out the writing on this headstone.  

Periwinkle beginning to bloom in the cemetery. 

  I have learned from my reading that a new friend, Dennis Stewart, a talented and dedicated historian in the area is responsible for the Cleage Cemetery being in as good a condition as it is!   Many thanks for the upkeep of this remarkable historic site.   

Again I will add information to this blog and repost it if I get additional relevant material.  

For now I leave you with a peaceful scene of emerging Spring along Little North Mouse Creek.    It has been a crazy and rough year, but you have to take those little snippets of beauty and solace where you can find them.

Scroll to the very bottom of the page for a map and directions to Cleage Cemetery which is not easy to spot if you don't know it is there. 

Below: the google map of the location of Cleage Cemetery with the spot marked.

Directions to Cleage Cemetery from Cleage House aka The Scream Chamber:

From Scream Chamber along Hwy 11 head south for 1 mile and turn RIGHT onto Mt. Verd Road (Road #305) Drive 0.10 miles on Mt. Verd Road and turn RIGHT into a driveway to a multiplex apartment building just past Subway.

It goes to a round parking lot for the apartments.   Pull to the far end of the circle and watch on your right--same side as the apartment building for a faint path leading into the clump of trees.   This is Cleage Cemetery.   In Winter or early Spring when the trees are not leafed out you will be able to see the tops of grave monuments from the parking area.   I would not do this in Summer as it is very snaky and weedy.   During any other season just go, but be careful.  The ground is full of depressions from sunken graves and footstones that are hard to see thanks to the snarl of grass.  Someone has placed survey flags at the known burials.   Please be respectful to  the deceased, mindful how you'd feel if it were your relatives burial place.  

Also do not litter or be disruptive to the folks living in the apartments.

Edited to Add as of Oct. 12, 2024 I finally made it back to attend The Scream Chamber at the Cleage House. Here is the trip report. It was great fun and so scary! 

Hiking and Exploring Vonore--Wildcat Pointe Overlook, Tellico Blockhouse and the Old Highway 411 Bridge -Part 2

The Stars & Stripes Flies Over the Utility Company

 Hiking and Exploring Vonore--

Wildcat Pointe Overlook, Tellico Blockhouse and the Old Highway 411 Bridge -Part 2

Dana Koogler solo

Total Hike Distance for the Day 3 miles

Tuesday January 26,2021

Directions for Wildcat Pointe Trail 

Photos are here Vonore Area Pix 

(They are cued up to the photos in the album for that day. 

Click the right arrow to advance)

   Sunday was cold. windy, and rainy.  It was a good day to stay indoors as was Monday.  Tuesday dawned sunny and milder.  I just couldn't stand it another minute.  I put on my hiking boots, threw my backpack in the jeep and down the road I went.  It was a pretty drive down to Vonore.  It just tickles me to death to

have light traffic, a short drive, and arrive to find I am the one and only person hiking.     

    Though Saturday had cleared up a few things from my long as your arm wish list....... I still wasn't satisfied.  I planned today to knock out a few more. 

I have been trying to be Amanda Gamble when I grow up for a long time. 

That gal has got a hefty dose of her dad in there.  She gets around and takes pictures of lots of interesting places.   I find that keeping up with her adventures tends to add more destinations to my wish list. Today I planned on seeing the overlook at the end of this trail.  I also had three other things I thought I could get done.  

• Hike the Wildcat Overlook Trail
• Get a photo of the railroad bridge across the lake
• Go see Tellico Blockhouse
• Find the old abandoned Highway 411 bridge that should be sticking up out of the lake this time of year. 

   

   

Above: view from the first overlook to the south

    I pulled into the empty parking lot, got out and hit the trail.  It was uphill for a very brief pull and then just some gentle ups and downs along the ridgeline. 

The trail was in great condition.  There is not a whole lot to see up here this time of year, but there was a view to the south after a couple tenths of a mile.  At several points along the hike they have left logs that are good sitting spots if you need them.   Some big trees along this hike.  As you get out toward the last tenth of a mile or so the trail swings slightly left. I saw on the map a spot named Wildcat Rock, but this trail does not take you within sight of anything easily identifiable as a rock outcrop.   I soon came to the end and the overlook.  It was very pretty. 

I was surprised to find that the trail puts you out further down the lake than I'd guessed.   You are past the Hwy 411 bridge, as well as the railroad bridge!  Across from me were some buildings from the industrial park. 

Above and below views from the overlook straight out at Tellico Lake

Above: view to my right facing the lake

Above: view to my left facing the lake. you can see the railroad bridge!

Above and below-- view of what the terrain is like heading down to the overlook and the very tracked down earth behind you that slopes toward the lake.

   I soaked up the view for awhile and then began my walk back. The forest smelled of pine trees. The air was fresh and clear and the sunshine was glorious after the cold and rain!   Parts of the ridgewalk have you on a narrow knife edge so you can see the lake on either side of you.  I paid more attention to it on the return hike.  I took a little time to check the sider hollers to the south for any signs of the second cabin we'd been hunting Saturday.  My search turned up nothing for a second time.   

  Below is a video shot at the overlook.  

   It seemed like no time at all and I was back at the jeep.  I never saw anyone else until I was halfway out to East Tellico Parkway.  A couple was pulling up in a red car.   I continued to my next stop which was the Tellico Blockhouse.  I turned there at the sign next to the utilities building.  I stopped briefly atop the knoll the utility company sits on.  I used the higher vantage point to get a picture of the railroad bridge crossing the lake.  

Above: Old Glory flies above the utility company

Finally! I photo of the railroad bridge!

  I found the Tellico Blockhouse easily. It is well signed.  I saw a few other couples out walking down to the Blockhouse.  I went down there and strolled around and took some photos. The lake looked pretty today. I could look across and see Fort Loudon.   I was glad I could at last say I'd taken time to come see this spot, but I did not find it too exciting.   It is historically important, but I just can't work up much enthusiasm for it.  Below is a view of Ft. Loudon across the water

Above: a view of Tellico Lake  looking south

Above and below: the excavations at Tellico Blockhouse

I liked the brick here. 

Flag flies high above the fort. 

Circular stone water well 

Me taking a photo down the well

Above: the layout of the fort

Above: interpretive sign regarding the blockhouse


    I did not linger here because as said it wasn't real exciting.  

Instead I headed back out to Hwy 411 crossing the lake and turning left into the marina.   Once there I drove as far down as I could and parked. I got out and walked toward the lake along an access road. I was heading in the direction of the current day Hwy 411 bridge.   I got to the last set of slips at the marina and could see it there in the water... the former 411 bridge sticking out of the lake.  

  Gary Free's comments regarding his youth camping under the old bridge and visits to the area helped me finally figure out where it was.   I'd been looking for it off and on.  I started looking a bit more earnestly in October of 2020.

      Below: this is as close as I could get to the bridge today. 

I think this was my favorite shot. The pier used to go out to it but now it has rotted.

Above: access road I walked to reach the vantage of the old bridge

From this angle you can see that a chunk of the railing is gone. 

The old bridge looks odd just coming up out of the lake like a subway tunnel.

Above: first glimpse I got of the old bridge from the last set of slips.

   I had a fun day and knocked out a great many things from my wish list. I got some lungsful of fresh air, lots of vitamin D from the sun, lots of feel good hormones in my brain from the exercise and sun.   What a glorious day this was!

I now have only four things on my wish list for this area:

• Vonore Heritage Museum
• Fort Loudon
• McGhee Carson Place
• Sequoyah's Birthplace

   I wrapped up my days adventures and headed back home.   I felt so relaxed.

I wrapped up in blankets in the living room sunshine and took a nap for a little while.  Looking forward to Spring with longer days, more sun, and milder temperatures!

Pleasant Hill Touring and Pioneer Hall Museum Tour Information Part 2

Flower assortment growing in the church flower bed

Pleasant Hill Touring and Pioneer Hall Museum Tour Information -Part 2 

Dana Koogler

Sunday August 29, 2020

Photo album is here

Pioneer Hall Tour Info 

above: Amos & Martha Wightman.  He moved to the area and become one of the most prosperous settlers. 

   

  Once  I left the church I continued around the community of Pleasant Hill. 

I drove the route over that Sharon and I took a short time earlier.   I wanted to do it myself so I would remember it well.    I took a second look at the Wightman house behind the post office up on the hill.  I continued toward the cemetery and got out to walk around and view the final resting places of Father Dodge, his family, and Dr. May and her nurses.    

 Above: obelisk for the entire Dodge family. Each one has their own foot stone. 

 Dr. May Cravath Wharton headstone

 Alice Adshead headstone

 Elizabeth Fletcher marker.  

The Doctor Woman's words about her hopes for tomorrow.  

      I  saw the Wightman section of the cemetery, but I did not locate the grave markers of Amos and Martha.    

          I left this quiet place and went toward the Van Dyk hospital building. 
I parked there by it and looked around at the site of the old Sanex (Sanitorium annex) it was the first hospital.  All that remains are fragments of it now.   They have put up a marker explaining what the site was.

 Above and below: site of the Sanex 

 Above: The Van Dyk TB sanatorium.   It is an attractive facility that has fallen into disrepair.   

 Above: stonework border and walls at the Sanex site

 Above: I have been told this was a doctors office once upon a time.  It is very jail like in appearance now, but that is not the case.  

 Above: massive trees at the site of the Van Dyk building

Above: basement level of the Van Dyk.  I had to take a photo of this hospital green paint.   I saw lots of that as a patient and a nursing student. 

   Next I moved on to do a little bit of the hiking part of my trip.  Beside the red brick doctor office building is a sign indicating the Adshead Wilderness Trail.    I hiked it clockwise.   Go down the trail behind the building and in 50 yards you'll see a stone arch with a bench beside it.  Steps lead down through the archway.    This is the trail you want.   It goes down through a beautiful green forest with some powerfully big trees.   It was built years ago by Marvin Moore in 1934.  It got in rough shape, but was reconstructed by C.T. Mathes.  It says it was in honor and memory of Denton (Dink) and Virginia Cole.  I am unsure if that was the original builder's purpose for constructing it, or if that was the purpose of the rebuild.   I think it is the latter.   I had seen a news article and a photo in the Crossville Chronicle about it.  I so wanted to see it.  This was another bonus that Sharon made sure I knew how to find.   

  Below: my favorite view of the arch.. coming back up the steps

 View of the arch getting ready to walk down

 Above: a bench placed at the arch. It is a nice spot for quiet meditation. 

 plaque on the arch 

 Pretty trail through the woods. It ends up down at the road at a little bridge if you go left.  A right turn takes you slightly uphill to this beautiful spot. An old amphitheater where they once held programs. 

Above: The amphitheater with its mossy greens was one of my favorite things about today. 

Below: end of the Adshead trail near the road

   I enjoyed several minutes of quietness in the forest here in this special spot. I did not allow myself to linger as long as I'd have preferred because I wanted to fit more into my day.  I knew the weather was threatening rain.  I hiked back up to the jeep and completed a clockwise loop. I emerged on the opposite side of the red brick building to my vehicle sitting there. 

    I drove from there to Yonside Drive which is where Dr. May's house is. Right now it is unoccupied.   It is a nice sturdy house and an attractive lawn.   She had a stone picnic table built in the lawn and it is still there. 

 Above: Dr. May named her house Yonside because it was on the yonder side of the lake.  

  Below: Dr. May's stone picnic set up!  The house is 85 years old this year. 

   I drove a very short distance to a pull off on the left.  I stopped and got out to hike what I could of the Lake Alice Trail.   It is signed and there is parking enough for three cars or so.   The path was to be hiked clockwise, but I was drawn to hike straight across the dam.  I was treated to more later Summer wildflowers. Lots of dragonflies zipped among the bushes and reeds.   Soft rush lined the lake shore in places.  I saw great spires of pink Joe Pye Weed, goldenrod, new york ironweed, tiny spiral ladies tresses orchids, sweet pea, virgins bower, camphor weeds bright yellow blooms,thistles, black eyed susans, buttonbush, cardinal flower, purple headed sneezeweed, flowering spurge,  meadow beauty,  blue lobelia, and curtiss' milkwort.  

Above:  late summer wildflowers. I love them, but some folks consider these weeds. 

Above and below:  a view of Lake Alice.  It is a serene spot.   

Above: soft rushes line the shore of Lake Alice. 

above: I loved the fuzzy plant texture of this slackwater part of the lake. 

Above: I had to prowl around the dam to see the outlet and these bold red cardinal flowers.

Below: a closer look at spiral ladies tresses. One of our native orchids.

     I began to hear thunder rumbling more and more.  The wind began to blow a bit and the rain started. At first it was just fat drops and only a few.  I realized this was probably it for me.  I turned and headed back speedily as I could. I was not really ready to leave, but there was nothing for it. 

I no more got in the jeep than the rain cut loose and began coming down even harder.  

Above: virgins bower vine drapes down over the rocks near Lake Alice

    

   I had a good visit.  Thanks Sharon for your time.   I knew whatever was here was important and going to affect me, but I had no idea how it would sink in and take root.   Give Pioneer Hall a tour if you like history.  Find out about the old days and the Doctor Woman of the Cumberlands along with Pleasant Hill Academy.     Bring along your comfortable shoes in case you want to hike the trails.    I think you'll be surprised at  how this place lives up to its name and reputation.   

  Instructions for Touring Pioneer Hall: 

The museum is currently open by appointment owing to the corona virus pandemic.   Call the numbers below to set up an appointment for a tour.

It is donation based, but bring along some money to donate for the upkeep of the museum.   Wear a mask.   Allow an hour or so for the tour.  

Don't touch the displays unless told otherwise.  Click the link to the website above and find the videos. Watch the first one for that is how they begin the tour.  If you have already watched it you can skip it and get right down to the tour.     If you read materials about the Academy or Dr. May prior to coming that is great.  I made two mistakes.  I read it a little too far ahead of my visit to be fresh in my mind.  I tried to absorb too much information prior to coming.   No need for that.  There isn't a quiz. 

Phone numbers 931-277-5226 or 931-277-3742 for setting up a tour appointment.  

Driving Directions to Pleasant Hill and Pioneer Hall

From Sparta at the intersection of Hwy 111 and Hwy 70 

Turn east onto Route 70 and drive 18 miles to a left turn onto East Main Street of Pleasant Hill.  Drive about 1/2 mile on East Main and Pioneer Hall will be a two story white building on the left. 

From Crossville at the intersection of Hwy 127 and Hwy 70 turn west onto Hwy 70 and drive for 9 miles to a right turn onto East Main St. of Pleasant Hill.  Drive 1/2 mile on East Main.  Pioneer Hall is on your left. 

Driving Tour and Hiking Directions

From Pioneer Hall turn left onto East Main and go 1 block
United Church of Christ is a very mod looking stone building on your left with a large white bell tower outside.
The community building and Uplands can be seen from here. 

From there go back out on East Main and bear left toward the US Post Office.  Pull in there and go behind it. It is within sight of the church.
The Wightman home is easily seen behind the post office.

Once coming round the post office turn right back onto East Main and watch closely because in 300 ft you need to turn LEFT onto Browntown Rd.
Go not even 1/10th mile on Browntown Road and turn right into the cemetery.  The Dodge family is buried on the left.  Dr. May Wharton and her nurses are buried on the right kind of in the center and right next to the road that goes through the cemetery.   Pull through the cemetery and at the end turn left and go back the way you came on Browntown Rd.

At the intersection of Browntown Rd and E.Main turn LEFT and go  about quarter mile. You will pass Uplands and the  Wharton nursing home on your right.   Turn RIGHT onto Van Dyk drive.   Go about 200 feet and the Van Dyk TB sanitorium will be on your right.  Park here to get out and take pictures or hike and see the arch.  The Sanex site will be on your left.
The red brick building.. the doctors office on your right... walk behind it and follow the obvious path about 50 yards downhill to the arch and the bench.   The trail goes down a set of steps. The Adshead trail continues left toward Yonside Road.  at the bottom of the hill turn RIGHT and walk slightly up a hill to see the stone amphitheater.

 Return up the steps and back through the arch or go back up the hill on an path to close a loop hike back to where you parked.

  Once done here drive to the end of Van Dyk Rd. in a very short distance.  Turn right and drive 250 feet to a RIGHT turn onto Yonside Drive.

You will go through the woods and see the far end of the Adshead trail on your right.  You can also get a glimpse of Lake Laura on the right.
Drive 1/4 mile on Yonside Drive and the first house on the left .. the tan house is Yonside .. Dr. May's house!   It has a semi circle drive.  It is ok to pull in here to take a photo especially if it is unoccupied.   The stone picnic table is easily visible in the front lawn.

  Remember .. Yonside Drive is a one way road so turn LEFT coming out of Dr. May's driveway and go another 3/4 mile to a pull out on the LEFT.  there is room to park about three cars.  It is signed as the trailhead for the Lake Alice Trail.   I did not hike the entire thing because of rain, but it is intended to be hiked clockwise.  I am unsure the mileage because I don't know if the trail hugs the shoreline or goes up into the woods.  I'll hazard a guess of about  a mile and a half hike total from the parking spot, around the lake completely and back to your car. 

 Once done here turn LEFT onto Yonside Drive and go 300 ft to a RIGHT turn onto West Lake Rd.   Stay on this and it will bring you back out on East Main next to Uplands Village. A left turn on East Main will return you to Highway 70 in 1/2 mile. 

Happy Trails! 

    

Recommended Reading

Doctor Woman of the Cumberlands

People of the Upper Cumberland: Achievements and Contradictions

Link to Part 1 of the original blog segment