"Smokemont Baptist Church"

Item DSC7262: This is the former Oconaluftee Baptist Church located at the former town of Smokemont in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, near Cherokee, North Carolina. Constructed in 1912 for a congregation organized in1836, the building was built to house the congregation variously known as the Oconaluftee Baptist Church, Lufty Baptist Church, and the Smokemont Baptist Church, as seen on the variety of names used on the signage near the building. The building remained in regular use until it was bought by the United States Government to become part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1935. It is a basically rectangular wood frame structure, 30 feet (9.1 m) wide and 50 feet (15 m) deep. The church's tower projects from the front of this main block and rises about 10 feet (3.0 m) above the level of the gable roof; it does not have a spire or steeple, and its uppermost section is a louvered belfry. It is located off United States Route 441, overlooking the Smokemont Campground of the park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.