Last updated: October 9, 2023
Place
Cave Spring, Georgia
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
Cave Spring is located at 24 Broad Street in Floyd County, Georgia, 75 miles northwest of Atlanta.
Significance:
The home was a witness to the Trail of Tears and represents a place of resistance against Indian Removal.
Designation:
Certified Site
MANAGED BY:
Amenities
3 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Picnic Table, Restroom
The Vann Cherokee Cabin was built by a Cherokee, David Vann, and is now surrounded by the town of Cave Spring. This site represents the first removal phase - where the military actively rounded up Cherokee and sent them to forts and camps to be organized for the journey west to Indian Territory (today's Oklahoma). These holding camps had deplorable conditions and for the Cherokee, who were already demoralized, the conditions caused some deaths before the final journey even began.
At first, Cherokee actively, physically resisted removal by staying in their home. They were removed by force. In the camps, they suffered from exposure, disease epidemics, inadequate sanitation, and heartbreak, remaining prisoners in the camps until their final deportation to the West.
Site Information
Location (24 Broad St, Cave Spring, GA 30124)
Cave Spring is located in Floyd County, Georgia, within a few miles state of Alabama, 75 miles from Atlanta, and 16 miles from Rome. It is a small town and has a flowing spring that comes out of a cave, as it has for millennia. The area is lush and the stable water source made the land verdant and valuable for growing crops. Ironically, water sources were important during Indian Removal when large groups of people being forcibly moved to camps. In the center of town there is a park that gives access to the spring which now flows into a pond and swimming pool filled by the spring.
The historic building allows visitors to imagine the scene as Cherokee passed during removal. Built by Avery Vann, Jr., (1770-1845), a Scottish trader who married a Cherokee woman. He was the brother of Cherokee Chief James Vann and his prominence in the area led to its designation as Vann’s Valley. For many years, the structure was hidden within the walls of the old Webster-Green Hotel in downtown Cave Spring.
The cabin, spring, and park offer a place to reflect on the Trail of Tears.