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The History of Sunset
Gap -page 1
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county line separating Cocke and Sevier Counties cuts a crooked north-south
path through a range of ridge-like mountains, which make up the foothills
northwest of the Great Smokies. From a distance, say from the two county
seats of Newport and Sevierville, this foothill area looks to be an outcrop
of picture-pretty mountain slopes which seem to be the beginning of the
national park, itself. There are no readily visible signs of man. No quaint smoking chimneys; no scars from roads carved into the mountainsides. But like most mountains, the faces of these foothills shelter a chain of interconnecting coves and hollows which lie at their base. In these narrow valleys live people of English and Scotch-Irish descent whose families were among the first to settle in the Southern Mountain region. Before the appearance of automobiles, traversable roads, and telephone lines, rural county governments found it difficult to provide schools, health and other services for small communities located in these coves and hollows. Many of the first schools started in the Southern Mountain region were not public schools, but mission schools sponsored by mainline denominations from the North. Built by the families they served, mission schools were often the creation of one teacher who coordinated the resources of the local community with those of the county government. The history of most mission schools has been one of having their duties assumed by public school systems. |
One of the first schools started in this area was located on Wilhite Road.
It was four miles from the county line, which comes down over the eastern
face of Rich Mountain, separating the Bogard Road Community of Cocke County
from Sevier County's Wilhite Road Community. So Juniper School was founded
in 1900 by a Miss Hadden from the Women's Board of Missions of the Presbyterian
Church in the U.S.A. Miss Hadden directed the school until the early 19-teens,
when the death of a sister called her home. A new director came to Juniper
in July of 1916. Her name was Sara Cochrane. She had been sent by the Board
of Missions to close Juniper School.
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