submitted by: Greg Curtis

The Northcutt’s Cove Chapel is the oldest standing meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) in the Southeastern United States. The Building was constructed and paid for by local members, friends, and Missionaries. John Tipton, A Church member in Northcutt’s Cove, donated the land on which the building stands. Charles A. Callis, President of the Southern States Mission and Later a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the chapel 24 October 1909. At the time of the building’s completion, Northcutt’s Cove was headquarters for the Church’s East Tennessee Conference. The Chapel became Center for disseminating Latter-day Saint teachings in the state. It was the site of a Three-day debate (24-26 Oct 1909) Between Charles A. Callis and Reverend Mansfield a Church of Christ (Campbellite) minister. As was so often the case, the “gold bible” and Joseph Smith became the central issue. The outcome, according at least to the mission publication, the Liahona, was that “the Lord softened the hearts of the people and made manifest the truth of His word.” Latter-day Saints considered the unbiased newspaper reports of the debate to be a fair representation of the Church as a positive, growing Christian Religion. On 18 April 1979, The Northcutt’s Cove Chapel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places

LDS missionaries would come thru the area and preach the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. When they approached John Tipton he turned them away but before they left one of the Elders dusted off his shoes. John’s wife noticed what had happened and insisted that they hear what the Missionaries had to say. The next day he invited the missionaries in and was later, baptized into the Church.