Joseph Roark Homestead

Having moved from Claiborne County, TN, about 1831, Joseph lived with his brother James near Sale Creek until he met and married Juda Carr in 1833. Joseph and Juda Carr Roark and their children were among the original settlers in the Birchwood area of Hamilton County, TN. By September 1837, they had built a sturdy, 20 feet by 20 feet house with split walnut logs held together by wooden pegs, chimneys of hand fired brick, and an east wing for the kitchen and dining room.

They moved into the home with 3 small daughters and added to the original cabin as the family grew; they were parents of 14 children. The north room was added first; the loft was added next as a bedroom for the boys; the “east wing” was not added until even later. Through four generations, it served as the principal dwelling of the Roark family. 

It is located on a bluff just south of Grasshopper Creek on Birchwood Pike or north of Grasshopper Road about .15 of a mile. The house changed hands several times over the years, and in 1992, Marleita Roark Carmichael, a daughter of William Grover Roark and great-granddaughter of Joseph, purchased the Homestead with 5 acres from Margene Higham, daughter of Franklin Asberry Roark. Margene had purchased the property to get it back into the family.

After purchasing the Homestead, Marleita started a restoration program and made a number of significant improvements. For several years, she invited the Roark-Conner family to visit the Homestead during the annual family reunions. Marleita also installed the historical marker. 

The book entitled Joseph Roark, His Life and Time, by John J. Roark, provides the ancestry of Joseph Roark in early Virginia, his early life in Claiborne County, TN, his pioneering settlement in Hamilton County, and his struggles during the Civil War and Reconstruction.