The East Roane County community that has hosted the most visitors at one time would have to be the Cave Creek community, about nine miles east of Kingston.
     For it was here on Sunday, June 26, 1938, that Felix (Bush) Breazeale, from the neighboring Dogwood community, attended his own funeral...along with an estimated 8-12,000 other people!
     His funeral received national notoriety from the Associated Press, the United Press, and Life Magazine.
     Helen White, one of the 274 residents who live in the community today, recalls attending the funeral.
     "We were within walking distance," she recalls, pointing to the house where her family lived, almost across the street from where the "funeral tent" was set up. "It was an event most of us will never forget.
     "When his funeral was held, it drew the largest crowd that ever attended an event in Roane County," White remembers, "and one reporter said it was the largest in Tennessee to that time.
     "The crowd was estimated to be at least 12,000 and included people from 14 states. Rev. Charles E. Jackson of the First Christian Church of Paris, Illinois, preached the funeral."
     She added, "The singers came from Knoxville and Chattanooga and so did the flowers. Quinn's Funeral Home of Loudon was in charge of the service.
     "When the hearse arrived carrying the hand-made coffin, Mr. Bush was seated in the front seat with Mr. Quinn. When the coffin was placed in the church, Mr. Breazeale seated himself in the front row for the service."
     According to newspaper accounts of the day, "The procession formed at Breazeale's home in Dogwood and proceeded toward the Cave Creek Baptist Church...stalled traffic in the center of the road, completely blocked the procession."
     Accounts say Breazeale lived alone and, because he had once been charged with murder and a few misdemeanors, he decided he'd have his funeral "rehearsed" just to "make sure that the facts of his life were correctly set out."
     The hermit made his own coffin and posed for pictures beside it and with his mule, which was his only companion.
     His 'publicity agent" was A. Summers, a newspaperman from Kingston, and Summers evidently did what he was hired to do.
     A week before the funeral, Breazeale was taken on a whirlwind tour of Knoxville, treated to new clothes and his "first talking picture" at the Tennessee Theatre.
     After the funeral, he was the number one celebrity during Harriman's Fourth of July festivities, taking part in the parade and pitching the first ball between the Loudon and Papermakers baseball teams.
     Later, he made personal appearances at the Princess Theater in Harriman and other area theaters, and he was featured on a Ripley's "Believe It Or Not" program.
     A short five years later, Bush Breazeale was laid to rest - after a quiet, unobtuse ceremony - in an unmarked grave of the Cave Creek Cemetery.
     Part of the Homecoming '86 plans for the community is to place a marker on his grave.
     The cemetery is one of the area's oldest, dating to at least 1841, but residents say many graves there are much older. The cemetery serves two churches - Cave Creek Primitive Baptist Church and Cave Creek Missionary Church - both within a few feet of one another.

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The second half of this article is an excellent study of the Cave Creek area, it's history, it's people, it's industry. Click here to go to Research Notes and Comments about the first half.

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     The Primitive Baptist Church claims one of the largest trees in Roane County - a sycamore, 85 feet tall and over 16 feet in circumference - when it was measured last in 1979.
     Both churches date back to the mid-1800s.
     Swimming has always been a popular pastime of Cave Creek residents. Cave Creek itself is a natural spring flowing from the mouth of a limestone cave, and despite its "cool" temperatures, the creek was sometimes used for baptizings.
     Hines Creek, another tributary more popular for swimming, fishing and water skiing, was also sometimes used for baptizing.
     A modern development of homes and recreation facilities is located on the Watts Bar Lake side of Cave Creek and has the Indian-sounding appellation of Lake-A-Wanna.
     One bit of "trivia" some Roane Countians may not be aware of is that "the highest point in elevation between Chattanooga and the Smoky Mountains" is in the yard of Mr. and Mrs. George Hunter. Their property sits 1246 feet above sea level.
     If you've wondered where the term "little red schoolhouse" came from, it may have originated in Cave Creek. The original Cave Creek School fit that description and stood near the site of the two churches.
     In 1914, some 80 students were enrolled, and classes spilled over into the Primitive Baptist Church.
     A new building went up in 1915, "up the hill," and two teachers conducted classes.
     It was not uncommon for students to attend church revivals, which were often held during the day.
     The community suffered a smallpox epidemic in 1914, but only one fatality - Mrs. Jessie Hall.
     No children died from the disease, probably because a Dr. Hatfield, a local resident, was able to vaccinate many of the people.
     In 1921, a teacher's salary was about $60 per month. Between 1921 and 1960, when school in Cave Creek was discontinued, 37 teachers taught in the rural community - many of them in the new, more modern brick structure which served students from 1950-60.
     Cave Creek had a school bus the last 10 years too, but only two drivers - Helen White and Bob White.
     Driving the bus in those days was a much more personal thing, according to Helen White. "You knew every child and their parents...and you didn't have the discipline problems bus drivers have today."
     The last school building, still standing, serves as a community center today. It is the hub of community events such as talent shows, boy scout and 4-H club programs, fundraisers, suppers and holiday affairs.
     The building is also headquarters for the regional library service from Athens.
     During elections, it's a voting precinct, and nearby is housed the community's new convenience center, a well-maintained improvement for local residents.
     Over the years, the Cave Creek community has seen four stores, four blacksmith shops, a brick kiln, a tannery, a mattress factory, a Junior Order Hall, and a grist mill.
     One store remains today, along with 14 farmers, most of whom raise cattle or tobacco.
     According to White, "what to do" was never a concern in the earlier days of the community.
     "We might have a 'candy-pulling' where molasses were being made or make a fancy pie box and go to a pie supper.
     "Sometimes, several families would go to one house, take down the bed, roll up the linoleum, put the kids in the corner, and have a square dance.
     "Once for a wedding, we all gave the newlyweds a surprise serenade."