The Bent Creek Experimental Forest is composed of an area of 6,302 acres, exclusive of the interior holdings; of this amount, a total of 1,472 acres, or 23.3 percent, has been cleared and put under cultivation at some period in the past. The clearing of land for cultivation dates back to shortly before the time of the original homestead grant issued to Abraham Randals, dated February 25, 1800, while the watershed was still being used by the Cherokee Indians.

A total of 104 homes, ranging from one-room log cabins to large, comfortable two-storied buildings, was constructed on the area during the period of activity from 1795 to 1900. Many of these homes were occupied almost continuously from the early days of settlement to the time of their destruction when George W. Vanderbilt took possession. As shown later, this drain on the forest for home and farm construction was very heavy.

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
• Our on-line publications are scanned and captured using Adobe Acrobat. During the capture process some typographical errors may occur. Please contact the SRS Webmaster, srswebmaster@fs.fed.us if you notice any errors which make this publication unuseable.