Posted on 05/23/2010 8:09:15 AM PDT by jay1949
The State of Tennessee was pure Backcountry, untainted by Cavaliers or Puritans in colonial and early American times, and so a large proportion of its settlers lived in log cabins. . . . Tennesseans are proud of their log-cabin heritage and there are accordingly many surviving examples of this Backcountry architecture in the state. [Contemporary photographs of 20 log cabins]
(Excerpt) Read more at backcountrynotes.com ...
** Mountain Folk and Log Cabins Ping List **
If I lived there, that would make great day trip outings.
Please add me to your ping list! I enjoy these old things.
Beautiful! Simply beautiful!!!
Nice layout.
Thanks...while looking at the cabins thought about my ancestor, Isaac White 1752-1819, who was also given land for service in the Revolutionary war. His land was in Washington County (then NC, now TN). I could imagine his family in one of those cabins and the life they led.
Thanks, again.
Can I be on your ping list? Went to Cades Coves this week, visiting friends who live on a mountain top nearby. Really cool.
The ‘collection’ is incomplete at best. There are two examples down on Crouch Road in Washington County which date to the 1800’s, one to 1843 and the other was moved to the current sight in the early 1950’s to prevent it being covered by the new ‘Boone Lake’. I grew up in that log house.
Bert, did you save pix of those two log structures near the picnic grounds? You might find this thread of interest.
Wow. I now know that my home would be considered a “dogtrot” house. Fascinating.
Please add me to your list.
Thanks for posting this.
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Isaac White Born on 4 June 1752 in Kent Co., Delaware, settled in North Carolina before the Revolutionary War. Died 18th August 1819 in Washington County, Tennessee Buried in the Family Cemetery on his farm. Isaac's will was written on 5 May 1819 in Washington County, Tennessee. He was a Lt. in North Carolina Militia, Revolutionary War, fought in the Battle of King's Mountain. In 1781, he brought his family to Washington County, Tennessee and settled near Fall Branch. His property had 400 acres in Washington County, Tennessee and 200 acres in Sullivan County. In 1790, he was a Lt. in Sullivan County, commissioned by William Blount, Governor, Southwest Territory. Before 1800 he was commissioned as Justice of the Peace in Washington County, Tennessee. He also served as Tax Collector.
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Did he have brothers or cousins? Three brothers named Shadrach White, Meshach White, and Abednego White were early settlers in Washington County, Virginia, during the same time period. All Biblical names, as is Isaac.
Thank goodness, it is very incomplete — there are quite a few more vintage log cabins in Tennessee. Twenty seemed sufficient for one article and the ones included are practically a compendium of the Southern Appalachian log cabin styles — several types of corner joints are represented (saddle, dovetail, Pike or steeple), there are one-, one-and-one-half, and two-story structures, and the configurations include single-pen, double-pen, and saddlebag. I have been collecting material for an article on the Hermitage cabins in Nasheville.
A few years ago the boyfriend and I purchased some Nikon cameras and went on a quest in Middle TN to find cool Barns and log cabins to photograph. I’ve got one of those photos of a beautiful, rustic log cabin displayed on my office wall.
Thanks for the post. Middle and Eastern Tennessee are beautiful places to live or visit.
"Backcountry" as a destination is a conceptually shifting thing over time. My (and your) part of NC was backcountry when it was thinly settled, and you can track settlement by references to backcountry over time, continually shifting westward. "Backcountry" as a geopolitical consideration was and is those lands where those religious groups outside State-established churches felt safe, the Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Moravians, Amish, Mennonites and etcetera.
The footprint of the backcountry forms the core of political conservatism in the United States today, stretching from central Pennsylvania all the way down the Blue Ridge into Alabama, with even most far western enclaves of conservatism in the Rockies tracing their origin to this region.
You've likely never heard of most of my people who went over the mountain way back when, but Landon Carter was my fifth great grandfather. He's a well-known figure in Tennessee history, and in the history of the State of Franklin, in the Revolutionary War battle of King's Mountain and even the Wautauga Settlement. The Carter "mansion" (well, by the standard of the times it was) in Elizabethton, TN is still standing, and at it's heart is a humble log cabin built when that location was NC, decades before TN statehood.
He and his father John did far more good than not for that State, so I assume they've been forgiven for a little early creativity in the land office, lol.
I love log cabins! In about 1950 I had the pleasure of visiting the dog trot log cabin in deep east Texas build by my ancestors in about 1830. Shortly after that, my uncle who owned it died and the property was sold. I know about where it was located but I have no idea what happened to it.
Wonderful post, as always. Those are some beautiful structures. The few that sit on their original sites I find to be especially compelling. It’s like they’re part of the natural landscape.
Lots of surviving log cabins in Ohio too.
I can think of 7 just in the area I grew up in.
My g-g-g-g-grandfather was Amos Balch. Sgt. in NC militia, fought at Cowpens and was given 1,000 acres of land in what is now Shelbyville, Bedford County, Tenn. We also have a copy of a petition signed by many NC Militia men wanting their land. Apparently it took a little “effort” to get the promise fulfilled.
Interesting too that we learned my wife’s g-g-g-g-g-grandfather owned land adjacent to Amos.
Tennessee is my second favorite state. I guess ‘cause a lot of Tennesseans were instrumental in making Texas!
And for the record, Davy Crockett’s final home was in Texas! The corner stone of the cabin he was born in is still there at the park near Jonesborough, Tn.
3 cabins for rent here http://www.millcreekmetroparks.com/RentaFacility/IndoorFacilities/OldLogCabin/tabid/1852/Default.aspx
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