Messer Barn Stands Again in Greenbrier

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK – The John Messer Barn in Greenbrier is standing again. Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Friends of the Smokies held a ribbon-cutting on Monday, Sep 28, to mark the end of a full reconstruction.

That is good news for anyone who likes a hike with some history at the end of it. The barn sits 1 mile up Porters Creek Trail, and visitors can walk up and see it again.

Storm Damage

Multiple storms battered the barn, and a windstorm in 2023 brought down the roof. The damage left the building unsafe for visitors, according to the National Park Service.

Park crews saved every piece of material they could. Then the park decided that a complete rebuild was the only way to save the barn.

Messer Barn Before Reconstruction | Courtesy U.S. National Parks

That was easier said than done. Dana Soehn, president and CEO of Friends of the Smokies, said at the ceremony that there was no clear path to a rebuild after the damage. It took raising the money, finding a contractor and working with the preservation crew to get the details right.

Park engineer Aspen Williams told The Mountain Press in April that the work started with taking the old barn apart piece by piece. The park hauled away the leftover debris this spring, and the new barn was expected to be finished in September. It was.

The Rebuild

Crews began building from the ground up in April, according to Friends of the Smokies. The park hired AJCE Corporation as head contractor, and the local Todd Almas Construction group did much of the work. The Forever Places preservation crew, which Friends funds through an endowment, handled the removal of the old barn and supplied architectural details.

The builders used traditional methods and materials similar to the original. The NPS says that includes hand-hewn-looking logs and wooden studs in place of nails. The original doors were saved and put back to use.

Historical architect Murray Miller said the crew had only partial original drawings to work from, and the barn had been altered over the years. A loft added in the 1970’s put extra weight on the structure and called for end walls that were never part of the original design. The new design is lighter up top, which brings back the cantilevered look.

It is a double cantilever barn, a style the NPS calls unique to East Tennessee. Two pens sit on the ground level, and the upper structure overhangs in both directions. Miller said there are not many cantilever barns left in the park. Cades Cove has one too.

Who Paid

Friends of the Smokies paid for the work. Soehn called it a $465,000 investment in the park’s news release.

Soehn said at the ceremony that the money came from the community behind the Greenbrier Barn Party, an annual fundraiser held a few miles down the road in Pittman Center. Earlier this year, Friends Communications Director Jim Matheny said the barn was on the park’s yearly list of things it needs but cannot afford.

Greenbrier Before the Park

The Messer Barn is the oldest structure in Greenbrier and the only building in that area that predates the park, according to the NPS. Pinkney Whaley built it in the 1870’s. The barn was later sold to John Messer.

Greenbrier was once a working community with schools, churches and homes, Williams said. A Civilian Conservation Corps camp followed in the 1930’s while the park was getting started. The barn is the last structure left from all of that.

The Smoky Mountain Hiking Club cabin sits behind the barn. Club members built it in the mid-1930’s and could stay overnight there until 1981.

Descendants of the Messer family and the Greenbrier community came to the ribbon-cutting. Linda Messer said the family has been coming here for years, and when they first saw the storm damage, “it broke our hearts.” Robert Messer said he visited during construction and talked with the crew about the detail work.

Superintendent Charles Sellars said the park has preserved more than 100 historic buildings. He said keeping them lets the park “honor and share the stories” of the people who lived in the Smokies before it became a park.

Visiting the Messer Barn

The Greenbrier entrance is on US 321, about 6 miles east of Gatlinburg‘s traffic light #3 and just before the Little Pigeon River bridge. Greenbrier Road runs 4 miles to the trailhead at the end. The pavement turns to gravel after about 1 mile, and the road is narrow, so go slow. A sign warns off anything larger than a pickup truck.

From the lot, follow the trail about 1 mile to a large intersection. Along the way you will pass old stone walls from settler farms and the Ownby Cemetery. The barn is a short detour of about 350 yards to the far right, according to the NPS, and the cabin is behind it.

Round trip to the barn is about 2 miles. If you want more, Fern Branch Falls is a 40-foot waterfall about 2 miles in, which makes a 4 mile round trip. Pets are not allowed on the trail.

The lot holds about 20 vehicles, and the NPS warns of crowds and limited parking in peak season. Arrive early. A parking tag is required for any stop longer than 15 minutes:

• Daily: $5
• Weekly: $15
• Annual: $40

Most trailheads do not have a tag machine, so buy yours ahead of time. The park does not require a tag on the fee-free days of Oct 27 and Nov 11.

Check the park’s current conditions page before you go. The Greenbrier Picnic Area has the closest restrooms.