Touring Tennessee Log Cabins

Visitors to central Tennessee and the Nashville area should take a little time to explore the historic log buildings of Rutherford County. Log architecture has always fascinated Tennesseans and there are a number of good examples on public display. Most are free to tour. The structures date back to the early 1800s. Constructed from local timber and stones, builders took good advantage of what they found growing from and strewn about the very soil they were laying stake to. Travelers will find two types of structures: log cabins and log houses. The first settlers in the backcountry built log cabins. They were generally one room, windowless buildings made from round, unpeeled logs. Backwoodsmen used the simple saddle notch to join the logs at the corners.

A good example of a red cedar log cabin is the Akin Log House at Bicentennial Park, 5091 Murfreesboro Road, La Vernge, Tennessee. Admission is free. Also there are several log cabin structures at Cannonsburgh Village, 312 Front Street, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Dogtrot House and single-pen house are among the examples on display. Admission to Cannonsburgh Village is also free.

Usually these cabins were 16 to 20 feet long and one story high. In their day they could be quite crowded, with children, parents, and grandparents all packed inside in order to survive the often harsh conditions. But fortunately their simple construction allowed for fairly easy expansion by just adding another room to the side of the original cabin.

More ambitious builders constructed log houses with a parlor, additional living spaces, and sometimes a second story. At Cannonsburgh Village, the Leeman House stands as a good example of this type of construction.

Perhaps the best grouping of original, historic log homes is located at the Sam Davis Home, 1399 Sam Davis Road, Smyrna, Tennessee. Admission to the museum and tour of the grounds is $8.50 for adults, $3 for children, and $6.50 for seniors.

The main part of the two-story Davis home is made of red cedar logs topped by yellow poplar weatherboards.. Behind the main house is the family's log smokehouse. As you roam the grounds you will also see the one-room overseers house and four small log buildings that were used for slave quarters. Relocated to the property is the large home in which Sam Davis was born.

Davis was in military school as the Civil War loomed on the horizon. He joined the Confederate Army and saw a lot of action and intrigue in his short career. Arrested for spying on the Union forces, he underwent a court martial. After being sentenced to hanging, he was given a chance to save his life if he would give up his sources in the Union ranks. He refused, saying famously, "I would die a thousand deaths before I would betray a friend."

Sources:
http://samdavishome.org/history.html
"A Traveler's Guide to Rutherford County's Log Architecture," by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Middle Tennessee State University.
http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/default.aspx?ekmenu=126&id=3020