Blast from the past! Around 1995

Probably in all for the two cabins I had to hew about 12 logs.

I know I did 10 for the big cabin, shown in the background of the picture of me sitting.

For the blacksmith cabin, I did maybe four more. So I guess that makes 14 or so.

I did use a chainsaw to cut the vertical cuts, but an axe for the actual hewing.

Let the chips fall where they may.

The one I am sitting on is a sill log for the smaller blacksmith cabin.

By the time I had been doing this a while, after cutting down the tree and cutting it to length and de-limbing, I could hew two sides in about an hour.

I always had a couple of axes on hand and files nearby to keep them sharp

 

From one of my favorite blogs - A Rovers Cabin.

 

Read the whole story here;

Rovers Log Cabin story

Scouts don't often get to do that kind of stuff anymore.

It would be neat if the logbook became a book.

B2R by the fire. River Rocks

 

Haven't done one of these in a while either. 

Books to read by the Fire.

River Rocks.

I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did.

I started reading it as a plan to check out the book to see if it would interest my teenage daughter. Well, it should, but I really enjoyed it also. And have already purchased the next book.

River Rocks - part Huch and Tom meet National Treasure, but not as far out there as Indian Jones.

Set in West Virginia, an area I have kayaked, the local setting was done really well.

The characters well developed and mostly likable. 

Even had a log cabin in it.

Movies with Log Cabins - Drums along the Mohawk.

 

Have not done one of these in a while.

Made in 1939, it still stands the test of time. 

While filmed out west the sets and location are very well done.

Not only are the log cabins nice, but the for and stone buildings are well done also.

Acting is pretty typical of the period, and a very early Henry Fonda movie, but like with most movies of this period, you really have to enjoy the character actors.

Nice still from the movie.

I love these.

When roadside attractions and little motels and places to eat, were every few miles along the two lane highways.

Red Run Lodge, Rouzerville, Pennsylvania

From this site; 

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/john-margolies-roadside-america-photograph-archive.html?loclr=flik

Girl Scouts restoring Old lodge.

 I have not seen this place yet, but my wife has.

An old lodge called Trefoil Lodge at one of the Girl Scout Camps they us a lot.

I will be neat to see how it ends up.

So much to see. . .

Well they say every picture tells a story.

As does this one. . .

Three women, all in long dresses.
The youngest looks dressed for school or something.
The one on the steps looks dressed for work.

The one almost off camera to the left has an even longer dress on, and maybe a little more dressy.


The shingled roof is well done. Shingles even and neat and in good repair.

The fire place built of probably nearby rough stone. Not a neat stone finish like a mason would do. More like it was built by the cabin builder.

No windows can be seen, but that doesn't mean there are none on the other side.

No chinking between the logs. Just boards covering some of the gaps. What ever was out side could come in. Small critters, the weather.

There is an upstairs. Probably a sleeping area.

The logs are close to the ground which means they won't last long. Maybe one or two have already failed because you can see some vertical boards covering an opening on the right front.

A home or a school?

While about the same size, this photo says different things.

Glass in the windows and curtains.

The logs are up off of the ground and well protected. Probably a warmer climate otherwise the floor would be really cold in the winter with in being so open.

With the open window on top of the side, it looks like it should have an upstairs, but no floor joists are visible from the outside. A more 'modern' joist system could have been added later. Just ventilation?

You can see the first floor joists under the windows. Flat hewn logs with the hewn sides up.

A room or two has been added on the back. A kitchen or bedrooms?

Two kids, in overalls. Probably a farm, maybe even sharecroppers.

Looks like another log building in the back ground.

A much neater house.

While in the top photo you can't imaging spending any more time inside the you absolutely needed to.
In the second photo you can imagine the inside being a little more cozy.

B2R by the fire. "A Place in the Woods", Helen Hoover.

 "A Place in the Woods" is about two people who finally took a chance on making a dream come true before their chance slipped away.

Not written by an individual or couple who were use to a remote life style, it follows their first year or so coming to terms with their choice and learning to love it.

Back in the 60's Helen's books helped inspire some of the back to nature movement.

Much of their involvement with some of their animal friends would find criticism with environmentalist, but has to be taken in context.

An easy, fun read that gives you lots of time to think who you would handle the same situations.

She doesn't mind admitting that in the beginning they were in way over their heads.

Helen Hoover

Her husband illustrated the books.

And they had a log cabin!

There is so much neat and sad about this photo all at the same time.

It is a neat little place in all senses of the word.

Four rows of shingles to cover each side of the roof.

Log and mud fireplace. Up nice and high of the ground.

But can you imagine the much larger mansion not seen in this photo?

Would have loved to see this one. . . .

A magnificent loss. The Boerding-Castlio house

St Charles is filled with all kinds of incredible history, if we have time to dig for it.

This house is called the Boerding - Castlio house.

The Castlio's have a long history in our part of the state.
My daughters school is named after one.
The last fort build in the area was built by them.

They had connections to the
Boone's, as in Daniel, in the area.

The stone part of this house has a lot in common with several Boone family homes in the area.

Part of the wood structure could be a log home. As you can see in the top photo, the front of the house is built very dog-trot style, and you can tell the building was added on to several times.

Two different people made the shingles on the porch. The replacements are much bigger than the others.

I just love the top photo!

Would love to know what it had been - Howell or Hamburg 1941

Another one from the ill fated TNT story. Would love to know what it had been. Was it a house? Or a business? At one time it had been chinked, you can see that on the left side of the photo. Most of the chinking has fallen out. At least one bad log, way left about half way up.
  Two stories. You can see the second floor joists.
An addition on the right. Was it a kitchen added on, or a stove to heat an office.

No large doors in view to indicate that it may have been a barn. Add normally you would not put nice windows like that in a barn.

Probably a home with a kitchen added later.

No firring strips to indicate that at one time the whole place could have been sided. But the front gable is sided with clap-board. And tar-paper covered the front.
The wide boards look like they cover a window, but don't look like they covered the whole front at one time.
While it probably had been used up until the time of the sale in 1941, it does not look like it was well maintained. But we will never know the whole story, only what the photo is willing to show us.

Would have loved to have seen it. . . .

 This old dog-trot cabin once stood on land that was taken over for the war effort. I have discussed that under the title Lost Valley in the labels on the right.

Many fine homes and businesses were lost when those towns disappeared.

Many log cabins also.

Would have loved to have seen them.
For the hundreds of old cabins saved over the years, thousands have been lost.

Making quite an entrance - doorway Sainte Genevieve Mo.

There is so much going on in this photo. And so much room for the imagination to roam.

Was this place built as a dog-trot cabin?
Was where the door is now perhaps a breeze-way at one time?

Nice doors like that would not have been built into early log homes.

At some point the entire outside was covered with some sort of plaster.

The dove-tail on the fourth log up on the right is very interesting. It seems to be either  one really think log with two dovetails, or two logs were hewn flat so they would fit tight together.  Indicating either bad planning or the use of different size logs.

And just above that course of logs the notching changes to a 'V' notch. While the notching on the right pen is hard to make out at all. Is it flat notching? 'V' notches?
Where first this would appear to be a well built nice log home with a fancy door.  It now looks more like it was built in stages over several years.

Today Sainte Genevieve is known more for its French style of building log homes with vertical logs.
But as different settlers headed west new methods or different methods of home building would have come with them.

B2R by the fire - Eric Sloane's 'Diary of an American Farm Boy'

Both of my blog followers already know I love anything by Eric Sloane.

At one point Eric Sloane came across the diary of an young farm boy named Noah Blake.
He had the diary reprinted and added his wonderful illustrations.

You could imagine a diary being pretty dry reading, but with the illustrations it is quite fun.

I have passed the book on to many young readers.

Below are some photos of a rebuilt Blake's cabin, which a group is trying to preserve, along with some of Eric Sloane's illustrations.

This blog didn't last long but it has some fun photos.

Miniature Log Cabins

A neat site on some cool Ohio homes. . .

Historic Architecture of Ohio

Mobile Homes? - Why move an old cabin and the use of Carpenters Marks.

  While reading an old house blog yesterday I came across an article on Carpenters Marks, like those pictured to the left.
  Most things you read about Carpenters Marks are a reference to how they were used in the construction of post and beam or timber frame construction. How these building were pieced together before they were ever assembled on site and marked so they could be reassembled on location.
  I have a different story on Carpenters Marks and how they were used.

 When taking down this cabin, which would become our main cabin, as I was removing the rafters I noticed Carpenter Marks on the top plates, the logs slightly cantilevered out for the rafters to sit on.

  This brought to mind a discussion I had had with the farmer who sold me the cabin.
  As I worked on the cabin one day he told me a story; he said, "In about 1960 two old ladies in their 80's stopped by to see the old place (this cabin). While talking they said they had grown up in that cabin. Then they said, 'Did you know, although we grew up in that cabin, it wasn't on the spot it is on now.' They pointed out across the field to the east and said, 'We grew up in it, but it was moved from over on the other side of the field.'"
  (This story is also how I started dating the cabin; If they were in their 80's in 1960 that would make the age of the cabin at least 1880.)

  This story brought to mind why Carpenters Marks were used in perhaps a different way on log cabins than they were used on timber frame construction; To mark rafters to be placed back where they came from after the cabin was moved at an earlier date.

  Building methods are different from timber frame and log cabins. Tools are the same; adz, axe, maybe chisel and saw. Skills required were the same; How to use the adz and axe to fell and hew logs.
  But construction was very different.
  Timber frame most times required a large group of people to construct and raise a building, usually barns.
  Hewn log cabins were often built by just a few people with maybe and oxen, mule or horse. Sometimes it would be just the family raising the building, hopefully with strong sons and/or a horse.
If you were very lucky, you maybe had some neighbors not to far away.

  In construction, as mentioned, timber frames would be fitted together like puzzles, numbered, taken apart and rebuilt on site.

  Hewn log buildings were constructed very near where the logs were harvested and each log moved into place one at a time with no pre-build some where else. Each log stacked one at a time, with the building growing as each new log was added. Each log individually cut, hewn, notched, then places with maybe even some adjustments once it was on the wall.
   And while you will find most hewn log cabins pretty level, they perhaps were not quite as perfect as a precontructed timber frame.
  What this would mean was that once the builders got to the rafters each one could be just a little off from it's neighbor in length.
  There was no need for Carpenters Marks as you constructed a hewn log cabin, only if you had to move it at some time.

  In many cases, because of additional land purchases, or a better location decide on, a hewn cabin may at one time have been moved.
  If you were not moving a great distance, it would be far easier to move your existing cabin than to start over and make a new one. They probably had no siding attached. Mine had no outside chimney, so no fireplace. Things weren't screwed or nailed together. Pegs could be easily cut and remade for window and door frames.
  And it would be much easier to move an original cabin than it would be to move one now that has been rebuilt.
  Logs were not attached to foundations or floors as modern codes require. Usually just built right on to of a stone foundation.
  There was no electrical wiring or plumbing running through the logs that had to be removed or worked around.
  The chinking was not cement or synthetic material attached to wire mesh.
  In the original builds the chinking was just mud and binding material (grass, horse hair) stuffed between the logs. So when removing an old building in, well, the old days, the chinking would just fall out as you lifted the logs. And once you rebuilt it on another site, it was easy to re-chink the logs with home grown materials again.

  However, because of the irregular nature of a hewn log cabin build and the not quite perfectly level nature of the material the rafters would have to go back in the same spot that they came from. That is why I found the Carpenters Marks on the top plates and the rafter logs. This way the rafters could be reused in the same spots and keep the roof line true.

  I found no carpenters marks on any other point of the construction. None in the logs themselves. They may have moved them one at a time so no number system was required or they may have had some form of tagging like we do now.

  So next time you hear about carpenters marks (you know, like when you are sitting around the bar or somethin') you can add another take on the conversation.

  Just like everything else in history, one story may not be the only story.

B2R by the fire, Kids addition - Mardy Murie Did

I have been interested in the work done by Mardy and Olaus Murie ever since John Denver did a song about them.

Pioneer conservationists for Alaska and the rest of the U.S.

This wonderful little children's book is wonderfully illustrated and gives a very small introductory view into the life of Mardy Murie.

And it has log cabins in it.

How fortunate we are. . . . .

How fortunate we are. . .
  That we can now look back on old log buildings as symbols of the pioneer spirit and craftsmanship.
  We look on them with a nostolgic feeling.
  Many of us can now afford to rebuild and restore many old log buildings as fun hobbies and weekend homes. Others can afford the price of turning them into modern homes.
And while all this is well and good, and are things we should observe about old buildings in general, for many people they were a symbol of something else.

  This month my daughters fifth grade class will start studying Plantation life and slavery.
  The first log cabin  I acquired for my own use I was told was an old slaves cabin.
  Over the years it had been used for many things since it's time as a home for slaves, even as a grain bin.
  I don't know for a fact that it had actually been used as a slaves home, but that is what I was told.
  It had many of the signs of a  slaves home, small windows and doors. Roughly built. Small. It could have been.

  We honor white men who came from a log cabin background and made more of themselves, Abe Lincoln, U. S. Grant, Andrew Jackson.
  And many of our frontier hero's started out in cabins or lived in them; Davie Crockett, Daniel Boone.

  But for others, they could have been a symbol of oppression, never having the chance to move onto something better. The Slave.
  While not all slave homes were built log cabin style, I would imagine a great many were, along with rough clap board siding or brick.
  Slaves on larger plantations probably had slightly better built homes (especially if it reflected on the wealth of the owner) than the slave who lived on smaller less profitable farms.

I have posted on this blog several times images of slaves cabins.

 These next two images are of a restored slaves cabin not to far from our place.

Today I thought I would add just a couple images of other slave cabins in Missouri. I have not seen any of these, and most probably no longer stand.

 Most of us who love these old buildings and want to save them can look beyond how they look when we start taking them down. We can in our minds imagine how they will look when we are finished, using our modern tools with the latest materials.

But for the people who lived in them, they would probably never be much more the the rough structure we see in the photos.

 They would never have the fine antiques we may put in them.
They may never have the efficient stove or fireplace we light on chilly nights.

Their floors may always have to be dirt.
And it would probably not be past on to their children.

Eight to ten people may have to live in one small cabin.

Probably no beds, at least for the children.

They probably spent as little time as possible inside.

Again, while slaves may not have been the only ones to start out in this hard scrabble life, they did not have the chance to make their situation better.

When I took this one down I did not own a piece of land to put it on.
I had to take the cabin if I wanted the old blue cook stove that I had gone to this farm to buy.

By the time I got land and had the money to rebuild a cabin the logs were no longer any good.

I wish I could change that.