Crackstock: Thanks for the Martins Station link. Lovely cabin photos!
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Cabin, smokehouse construction
- Thread starter BillinOregon
- Start date
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Bill,
We are fortunate here in that there are several restored cabins in all directions within 50 miles of where I live. Most of them date around mid 1830's to 1860's. One south of here is even a restored 2 story cabin. From what I read in the Foxfire books and a few other books along with what I've seen. Construction techniques on most simple one room cabins hasn't changed that much over time. That is until modern power tools were starting to be used.
Books on log cabin construction, both of the history and architectural plans are commonly available through new and used book dealers. It seems during the 70's and early 80's there was big interest in log homes and everybody was publishing a book on the subject or to some aspect of log cabin construction. Could have been The Foxfire books had something to do with igniting the interest, I don't know. The foxfire book 1 and 9 gives the basics on cabin construction, foxfire 3 talks about building a smokehouse. Another good book on cabin styles from very early to modern revivals is Alex Bealers book "The Log Cabin" 2nd Prnt 1978. Dale Mann's book "the complete Log House Book" also covers the basics on the different aspects of log construction. There is a lot of info available on cabin construction. A person could build them as rough looking or as pretty as you want, it just depends on the purpose and the amount of time you wanted to invest in one. Most construction methods and plans that I have seen on one room cabins are usually very simple and very similar and would be correct even for the early 19th century. In the end there's only so many ways you can stack those logs and raise the rafters.
Smokeydays
We are fortunate here in that there are several restored cabins in all directions within 50 miles of where I live. Most of them date around mid 1830's to 1860's. One south of here is even a restored 2 story cabin. From what I read in the Foxfire books and a few other books along with what I've seen. Construction techniques on most simple one room cabins hasn't changed that much over time. That is until modern power tools were starting to be used.
Books on log cabin construction, both of the history and architectural plans are commonly available through new and used book dealers. It seems during the 70's and early 80's there was big interest in log homes and everybody was publishing a book on the subject or to some aspect of log cabin construction. Could have been The Foxfire books had something to do with igniting the interest, I don't know. The foxfire book 1 and 9 gives the basics on cabin construction, foxfire 3 talks about building a smokehouse. Another good book on cabin styles from very early to modern revivals is Alex Bealers book "The Log Cabin" 2nd Prnt 1978. Dale Mann's book "the complete Log House Book" also covers the basics on the different aspects of log construction. There is a lot of info available on cabin construction. A person could build them as rough looking or as pretty as you want, it just depends on the purpose and the amount of time you wanted to invest in one. Most construction methods and plans that I have seen on one room cabins are usually very simple and very similar and would be correct even for the early 19th century. In the end there's only so many ways you can stack those logs and raise the rafters.
Smokeydays
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A few years ago we came across an old 11x16 suger shack in Vermont that was all put together using wooden pegs for nails. Not exactly sure how old it is but it had stuff in it that dated back to 1911. Still stuctually sound, it was carefully taken apart and transported to our place in the Adirondacks and rebuildt using freshly made wooden pegs. We added a tin roof and until recently, it was used to make syrup. 
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Bill,
Part of the work will be to decide what's right for your area for workmanship and materials. I live in Central Texas and it's readily apparent the German and Spanish settlers used the native cedar, rock and cypress for construction. I'm involved with a local historical preservation society and they have a few houses that date from the early to mid-1800's. The floors are rough saw cypress planks set on cedar joists. The walls are framed into rectangular sections with cedar posts, then the holes are filled in with cedar branches, rocks and mortar to make a type of natural lath. Roofing was either cedar shake or boughs over cypress planks or sometimes slate for the rich folks. Some of these houses were occupied continuously until the 1960's with the only added modern conveniences being electricity and glass windows where the shutters had been.
My folks were part of the German immigration to Texas and our family home in Fredericksburg was built the same way in 1852 except the walls were solid limestone about a foot thick. The smoke house was cedar posts notched and laid down like a log cabin, then chinked with rocks and mortar - the roof was cedar shakes. This type of construction lasts for many years but the only drawback is that it will burn like gasoline if it ever catches fire.
Part of the work will be to decide what's right for your area for workmanship and materials. I live in Central Texas and it's readily apparent the German and Spanish settlers used the native cedar, rock and cypress for construction. I'm involved with a local historical preservation society and they have a few houses that date from the early to mid-1800's. The floors are rough saw cypress planks set on cedar joists. The walls are framed into rectangular sections with cedar posts, then the holes are filled in with cedar branches, rocks and mortar to make a type of natural lath. Roofing was either cedar shake or boughs over cypress planks or sometimes slate for the rich folks. Some of these houses were occupied continuously until the 1960's with the only added modern conveniences being electricity and glass windows where the shutters had been.
My folks were part of the German immigration to Texas and our family home in Fredericksburg was built the same way in 1852 except the walls were solid limestone about a foot thick. The smoke house was cedar posts notched and laid down like a log cabin, then chinked with rocks and mortar - the roof was cedar shakes. This type of construction lasts for many years but the only drawback is that it will burn like gasoline if it ever catches fire.
A house I rented had a smoke house on its land. It was about 4'x8' and made of stone. One end had a cast iron grate window that was about 12"wide x18" high. the window had a piece of tin on the inside that slid on hooks to control the draft I would guess. Inside two light mine rails were used as Joists. Hooks were put in here and there on the walls. Up in the peak of the eves it had cast iron stars with a rod from end to end. The roof was tin. It was a old house probably built in the early 1800's. The people I rented from lived in a house next to me that they said was built in 1790. But didn't know when the house rented was made. I under stand apple wood works good for smoking meat. so I was told.
Lehigh...
Lehigh...
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