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Below you can read two interviews, one with the owner of the cabin area from 1944 to the early 1980s while The Evil Dead was being shot, and a second with the owner from 1985 to the present day. As the people involved are simply Morristown locals, and don't really wish to be bothered. Some names have been changed, and others have been omitted entirely from the exchange.

If anyone reading this has any further information on anything covered below, or any photos of the cabin site taken before 2001, or even historical photos of the cabin itself, then please get in contact via email at  




The Evil Dead's cabin location in Morristown Tennessee, with Sam Raimi standing in the doorway (1979)



The Cabin Site Owner: 1944 to Early 1980s
In September 2013, I was contacted by a man called Robin, who's great uncle T.L. Shockley formerly owned the cabin site. T.L. was well known in Morristown simply as those initials, he passed away in 2016, but was still alive aged 94, when this interview was conducted. Robin got in touch to correct a number of errors relating to information on the The Evil Dead - Locations page. We exchanged a total of seventeen emails. While some of the details he shared have since been integrated into the site, you can read an edited version of the full exchange presented below.



Can you tell us a little history of the area in which the cabin was built?  
 
 The area is near Inman Bend Road, which was named after Ruth Inman who owned a small plot of land close to the lake. She passed in early 1940's informing her children to never sell her land to the Shockleys', my great great grandfather's family, as they'd been trying for years to buy that one small chip of land.

That whole area of land is also over a sink area that has caused problems for Kidwells Ridge Road and the grocery that sits off to the right on the hill. the sink is worse in front of the grocery causing the Andrew Johnson Highway and part of the grocery parking lot to disappear overnight as the ground settles. It has been back filled with rocks and concrete seven times but it still keeps going. In 2011, the area was peppered with sinkhole issues all over, due to heavy rain.

I was born in 1977 in Morristown. My home was off of Drinnon Drive & Landmark Drive, behind the Baskin Robbins on the West Side, on top of the hill. The land on which the house stood, was purchased in 1896 by Howard Shockley III. His son was my Great grandpa Ridley Shockley. He was born in 1898 and lived until 1999, when he passed away at 101 in his sleep. His old homestead was right off Panther Creek Park, at the northern tip, which on land taken away by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and is now covered by the Cherokee Reservoir. I never knew about the movie growing up, but I remember after it came out, my cousins used to hold camping trips there, and tell ghost stories after going to Rose Center's Mountain Makins (a local fall & Halloween fair).


Do you know who built the cabin, and when?  
 
 The cabin was built in the late 1960's by my great grandpa Ridley Shockley and great uncle T.L. as a hunting cabin. The cabin was not the same as you would see in the movie. It was much smaller, only two rooms. The main room was for eating and sleeping, the side room was for hunting supplies and to stretch furs. They used to also make corn liquor there, to sell to make it through the winter, if trapping season wasn't good. I actually still have some of their last batch of liquor in a mason jar which was in my grandmothers crawl space. She used to make it into cough syrup back when I was a kid. I didn't really get to know my great uncle's side of my family until after I was 16 though.

T.L. says that his mama gave him a name when he was a kid but they all called him T.L. He didn't have a certificate of birth, and never thought to get his real name and he's now just known as T.L. He's 94 years old but still as bright as ever, and even still works at the family business in Morristown. He can have a temper though. He didn't go to my grandmother's funeral 50 years after she sold a cow and didn't give it back to the family. He brooded for 63 years over a cow!


The cabin was leased for the duration of the movie. Where there any stipulations?  
 
 Just to leave the cabin in the same shape they received it. It was used off season for hunting I believe. They did have to get permission to dig out the area that was the cellar in the movie. Other than that, he just saw it as some people being on his land to do work and then leaving before September of the following year. T.L. wasn't on site because he didn't really care about the movie, he just wanted the money. He now says it wasn't worth the effort and bull shit he has had to deal with since then.


The original cabin was extended by the production to add the hallway and two back rooms?  
 
 Yes, the cabin was contracted to be extended by Hearthstone Lumber Co out of Newport. They now specialize in log homes. The lumber yard owner at the time was a Reverend. He started the lumber yard with his two sons, but passed away only a few years ago. At first he didn't want the contract because of his religious beliefs. Apparently he thought movies such as this released evil and corrupted young people.


Was T.L. planning on doing anything with the cabin once it had been fixed up & finished with by the production?  
 
 Our family had hoped to build a spring house next to it and dig a well to use during the summer. It gets awfully hot in Tennessee during the summer and under the cool shade of the trees in that area, one could sit in the shade on the front porch on the four person swing. The swing was built by Ridley and his brother Arville. The Swing was cut up in 1980 by kids. It was a sore loss as it had hung on that porch as well as the old homestead of Panther Creek Park. They have destroyed so much, the vandals they stole him blind. The windows, including one stained glass piece that was made by Ruth was stolen. They literally took the whole frame!


Do you have any photos taken of the cabin?  
 
 I'm not sure since the family was very poor back then. T.L. didn't make his money until after Morristown started to grow. He now owns all the land from Baskin Robbins down & past Panther Creek park. I only have one picture of the Shockley Family standing near the family well off Sugar Hollow Road.


Do you know how & when the cabin burned down?  
 
 Even before the movie came out, T.L. couldn't use the area for hunting as the cabin became a local attraction. The whole town knew. Hell, most of East Tennessee knew! It was a big deal for our little town to see Hollywood directors picking a spot in the valley to tell their story. T.L. was afraid of hurting someone by mistake. It was an old trappers area for years, and he's found traps in the woods that were set decades ago. One broke his grandpas cane. This is one of the main reasons he hated people on his land. It was never cleared properly and those traps are big enough for black bears to get caught. It can snap an ankle like a tooth pick. He's caught many people on the property and has escorted them off with an unloaded shot gun to make them think twice about coming back.

The cabin burned down in the Spring of 1982, around end of April because the dogwoods were in full bloom. It was T.L. and his son that struck the match. They burned it without permission from the local county because there were so many people coming onto the land to see the cabin, that he got tired and levelled it. They did it in Spring so the fields and surrounding trees would not catch fire. The police wrote it off to kids and it was just forgotten about. They later tore down the rest of the house but left the old brick fireplace in hopes of rebuilding or using it as an outdoor fireplace that could be used during camping.


Did T.L. keep any parts/wood from the cabin, or was it all trashed?  
 
 Some of the wood was used to make fence posts on Uncle T.L.'s farm. There are 4 homesteads on that property which belong to our family.

























The Cabin Site Owner: Early 1980s to 1985
Combining information from both the above and below interviews, it seems that T.L. Shockley decided to sell the site even before the movie was released. It's a guess, but maybe it just wasn't worth the liability or hassle anymore. Either way, the land was sold to the Thompsons', who only kept it for a few years, before selling it again to the below interviewee. Who the Thompsons' are, why they bought it, or why they sold it, is unknown as of writing.




The Cabin Site Owner: 1985 to Present
In January 2021, I was contacted by US fan Andrew, asking if I had contact details for the cabin site owners with which he could ask permission to visit. I didn't, but after asking around in the town and some research online, he found the owner and phoned for permission, which they gave. I asked him for an introduction, and the resulting phone interview is below. They bought the land in 1985, by which time the cabin was already gone, but it's still an insightful conversation.



A panorama of The Evil Dead's cabin location in Morristown Tennessee, along with images below, as it was in December 2012


So you own the property today, but bought it years after the movie had been shot?  
 
 I bought the property in 85, 86, something like that, after the movie was made. I bought some property over that way, and later that area became available and I bought that too. I own around 150 acres around the area. I bought it through a real estate agent. I recall the sellers name was Thompson. I might have met them at closing, but I never really knew anything about them. I don't know why they sold it, but I've owned it ever since.
















I knew about the history of the cabin, in fact I worked in the business office of the telephone company at the time. I took their call requesting a phone line installation. I remember the caller told me they were working on the movie, but I knew nothing about it. I guess nobody did then, because they were just making it. I don't know if they had the phone inside the house, or outside on a pole. That was the only contact I ever had with the people that made the movie.


So the cabin had already burned down before you bought the land?  
 
 The seller said that he heard some boys were just camping out and turned the lantern over and it caught fire, so I don't really know what happened but yes, it was burned down and I never did rebuild anything.

We were born in the same area where the little house was, about half a mile further down the road towards the lake. My daddy's brother William, we called him uncle Bill, owned it then. We owned twelve acres that joined it on down the hill, but we sold it and moved to town. That was during World War II, because we were already living in town when we, when I say we, I mean America, when we won. I would just guess and say around 1944. I don't remember who we sold it to.

I only moved back over to this area in the year 2000, which is about 6 miles west of town, and before that I lived at the other end of Morristown. I built this house, starting in 1997. I was in no hurry, so is was really the year 2000 when I moved in. I owned property over there long before that though, I used to raise tobacco on the opposite side of the road.


Could it have been the Shockley family, or T.L. Shockley that William sold it to?  
 
 I knew T.L., he was a lifelong resident. He lived up the road towards Morristown. He passed away just three or four years ago, but he was a really nice gentleman. I never knew that T.L. bought it. He did buy some real estate, but he was never a realtor that I knew of. He did own a mobile home park on the west side of town when he passed away. I don't think the Inman's were really kin to the Shockley's, they may have married into them, but I know we were never close. They might have bought it from the Inman family, and then resold it to the Thompsons' before I bought it.


Do you have you got any intentions of using the property for anything in the future?  
 
 No, I just bought it because it was for sale, and it joins on to land I already owned, not that I needed it. I probably never will. I'm older now, in my 90s, but I never did really have any plans for it. When you have some land, sometimes you want a little more, but no, I don't have any plans for it.


A fan visited in February 2021, and spoke to a resident in the town with a strong connection to the local historical board, as well as the mayor, and was asking about them about a possible preservation of the site?  
 
 Well they would certainly have to talk to me before they bring it up before the board, because the answer would be no.


How do you feel about fans of the movie walking down to the cabin area?  
 
 I would rather not be bothered, because of people stealing the chimney, but if anyone asks, certainly I would let them walk down there because I don't really mind. I do like for them to call me, and then I know somebody is down there. I live a ways off the road, so I don't see everybody that parks alongside the road.

I never made any money off the property, and I don't intend to, but if you're a movie-maker and want an area to make a free movie or something like that, I mean I would charge for that. I have never asked for anything, other than not leaving any trash or anything thrown on the land, and I don't like them smoking because I don't want anything to catch fire.



2001 (taken by GoatLair)

2002 (taken by Unknown)

2004 (taken by BudhaCronX)


2009 (taken by AllisterPunx)

2011 (taken by Ed Evildeadnews)

2012 (taken by Rob Mclaine)


2016 (taken by Casey Fann)

2019 (taken by Paige_Barnes)

2021 (taken by AndrewL)


What about fans taking mementos of their visit, such as cabin chimney stones which seems to get shorter with each passing year?  
 
 Yes, I found out people were taking souvenirs, stones from the chimney. I did not know anyone would steal that. I did not care for someone to go in and look. Now the chimney is about half gone, so I put up 'No Trespassing' signs.


When I was there in 2012, I noticed that one of the two big trees that stands in the clearing in front of the cabin had fallen over.  
 
 Yes, it was a big pine tree, of course you might not remember what kind of tree it was. I used to have the little lane mown down, so it was easy to to walk back there. That was before there was a tree over it, so anyone could drive a tractor back there and mow and stop it getting too overgrown. I can remember being back there since the tree, because we had a dog that we lost. He must of gotten hit by a car and we found him over that way. My daughters just took him back back to a ditch, near where they made the movie, and buried him.


Thank-you for allowing me to bother you, it's nice to put a person to the previously unidentified cabin site owner.  
 
 No, you did not bother me, and I enjoyed talking with you.




Hearthstone Lumber Co, Newport TN
As a follow-up avenue for further research, Hearthstone Lumber Co in Newport, TN was contacted on the hope they may either have records, or even someone who worked on the original cabin extension in late 1979. They replied with the following answer;


"...the oldest employee here in Newport started in 1981, and there are no written records from shipments before 1998..."

 
 
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