A log cabin is a small house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. Log cabins were built both in rural areas and in cities in timber-rich regions around the world, but particularly in the northern hemisphere. Although their origin is uncertain, the first log structures were probably built in northern Europe in the Bronze Age (about 3500 BCE). By the time Europeans began to settle in America, there was a long tradition of using logs for houses, barns, and other outbuildings in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, and Northern Russia.[1]
In the United States, log structures were first constructed by Finnish and Swedish settlers in what is now Wilmington, Delaware, beginning in 1638. Later German immigrants also used this technique. The Scots, and Scots-Irish had no tradition of building with logs, but they quickly adopted the method. Log cabins were not widely used by the first English settlers.[2] Few log cabins dating from the 18th century still stand, but they were not intended as permanent dwellings. When a larger, more formal house was constructed, log cabins were often converted into outbuildings for chicken coops, animal shelters, or other utilitarian uses.
When cabins were built with the intention of applying siding, the logs were usually hewed on the outside to facilitate the application of the siding. When logs were hewed on the inside as well they were often covered with a variety of materials, ranging from plaster over lath to wallpaper.
Traditional log buildings in North America
Log cabins were built from logs laid horizontally and interlocked on the ends with notches (British English cog joints). Some log cabins were built without notches and simply nailed together, but this was not as structurally sound. Modern building methods allow this shortcut.
Details of cabin corner joint with squared off logs
The most important aspect of cabin building is the site upon which the cabin was built. Site selection was aimed at providing the cabin inhabitants with both sunlight and drainage to make them better able to cope with the rigors of frontier life. Proper site selection also placed the home in a location best suited to manage the farm or ranch. When the first pioneers built cabins, they were able to "cherry pick" the best logs for cabins. These would be old growth trees with few limbs (knots) and be straight with little taper. Logs of this type did not need to be hewed to fit well together. Careful notching minimized the size of the gap between the logs and reduced the amount of chinking (sticks or rocks) or daubing (mud) needed to fill the gap. The length of one log was generally the length of one wall, although this was not a limitation for most good cabin builders.
Decisions had to be made about the type of cabin. Styles varied greatly from one part of the US to another: the size of the cabin, the number of stories, type of roof, the orientation of doors and windows all needed to be taken into account when the cabin design was being made. In addition, the source of the logs, the source of stone and the available labor either human or animal had to be considered. If timber sources were further away from the site, the cabin size might be limited.
Cabin corners were often set on large rocks; if the cabin was large, other stones were used at other points along the sill (bottom log). Thresholds, since they were usually cut into the sill, were supported with rock as well. These stones are found below the corners of many 19th century cabins as they are restored. Cabins were set on foundations to keep them out of damp soil but also to allow for storage or cellars to be constructed below the cabin. Cabins with earth floors had no need for foundations.
Cabins were constructed using a variety of notches. Notches can vary within ethnic groups as well as between them. Notches often varied on a single building, so their styles were not conclusive.
Log cabins were constructed with either a purlin roof structure or a rafter roof structure. A purlin roof consists of horizontal logs that are notched into the gable-wall logs. The latter are progressively shortened to form the characteristic triangular gable end. The steepness of the roof was determined by the reduction in size of each gable-wall log as well as the total number of gable-wall logs. Flatter roofed cabins might have had only 2 or 3 gable-wall logs while steeply pitched roofs might have had as many gable-wall logs as a full story. Issues related to eave overhang and a porch also influenced the layout of the cabin.
The decision about roof type often was based on the material for roofing. Milled lumber was usually the most popular choice for rafter roofs in the areas where it was available. These roofs typify many log cabins built in the 20th century, having full-cut 2x4 rafters covered with skip sheeting and cedar shingles. The purlin roofs found in rural settings and locations, where milled lumber was not available, often were covered with long hand-split shingles.
Some older buildings in the American Midwest and the Canadian Prairies are actually log structures covered with clapboards or other materials. Nineteenth-century cabins used as dwellings were occasionally first plastered on the interior. The O'Farrell Cabin (ca. 1865) in Boise, Idaho had backed wallpaper used over newspaper. The C.C.A. Christenson Cabin in Ephraim, Utah (ca. 1880) was plastered over willow lath.
Interior of a recreated log cabin.
Log cabins reached their peak of complexity and elaboration with the Adirondack-style cabins of the mid-18th century. These formed the basis for many United States Park Service lodges built at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. Log cabin building never died out or fell out of favor. It was surpassed by the needs of a growing urban America. During the 1930s and the Great Depression, the Roosevelt Administration directed the Civilian Conservation Corps to build log cabins throughout the west for use by the Forest Service and the National Park Service. Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon was such a log structure, and it was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1930, the world's largest log cabin was constructed at a private resort in Montebello, Quebec, Canada. Often described as a "log château", it serves as the Château Montebello hotel.
The modern version of a log cabin is the log home, which is a house built usually from milled logs. The logs are visible on the exterior and sometimes interior of the house. These cabins are mass manufactured, traditionally in Scandinavian countries and increasingly in Eastern Europe, using squared milled logs that are precut for easy assembly. Log homes are popular in rural areas, and even in some suburban locations. In many resort communities in the American West, homes of log and stone measuring over 3,000 sq ft (280 m2) are not uncommon.
Visitors at the Log Cabin Museum in Sheyenne, ND.
These "kit" log homes are one of the largest consumers of logs in the Western United States.
In Europe, modern log cabins are often built in gardens and used as summerhouses, home offices or as an additional room in the garden. Summer houses and cottages are often built from logs in northern Europe.
Chinking refers to the mortar/infill material between the logs in the construction of log cabins and other log-walled structures. Traditionally, dried Pleurozium schreberi or Hylocomium splendens were used in the Nordic countries as an insulator between logs.
Symbolism
William Henry Harrison and the Whigs used a log cabin as a symbol to show he was a man of the people. Other U.S. political figures also used their starts in log cabins for the same purpose. Most Americans know that Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin, as were Presidents Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan before him. A total of seven United States Presidents were born in log cabins. [3]. The connection with Lincoln caused Republicans to call themselves Log Cabin Republicans.
The "Log Cabin" has become a vernacular reference to the Internet, referring to the solitary, shut-in nature of computer geeks who decrease socializing.
Toys
There is a very popular children's toy called Lincoln Logs, consisting of various notched dowel rods that may be fit together to build doll-sized structures. The toy is named after Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin in rural Kentucky and grew up in another one in Illinois.
Notes
Further reading
- Charles McRaven, Building and Restoring the Hewn Log House.
See also
External links
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