{"id":1772,"date":"2013-10-12T23:07:22","date_gmt":"2013-10-13T03:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getitright.pmss.net\/?page_id=1772"},"modified":"2018-09-03T00:04:21","modified_gmt":"2018-09-03T04:04:21","slug":"old-log","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/staging.pinemountainsettlement.net\/?page_id=1772","title":{"rendered":"OLD LOG"},"content":{"rendered":"
Pine Mountain Settlement School
\nSeries 10: BUILT ENVIRONMENT<\/h5>\n

OLD LOG, 1914 – present<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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TAGS:<\/strong>\u00a0Old Log ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; settlement schools ; Friends of Pine Mountain ; sawmills ; settlers ; porches ; fireplaces ; dog trots ; barns ; Adrian Metcalf ; hand-hewn logs ; Indian Cliff ; Big Log ; Katherine Pettit ; log house reconstruction ; Mary Rockwell Hook ; staff residences ; weaving centers ; Fireside industries ; bathrooms ; Evelyn Wells ; Margaret Motter ; Burton Rogers family ; Barry family ; Barny Junkers ;\u00a0William Collins family ; Betty Yeary ; Preston and Lane Lewis ; Paul Hayes ; Mattie Hayes ; Gift Shop ;\u00a0vernacular architecture ; logs ;\u00a0Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; log cabins ; 1914 ; architectural reconstruction ; Peter Barry ; Katherine Pettit ; Mary Rockwell Hook ; Margaret Motter ; Paul Hayes ; “Ma” Hayes\u00a0;<\/p>\n

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\"Old<\/a>

Old Log.\u00a0View of east end with vegetation and road. [II_5_old_log_office_208a.jpg]<\/p><\/div>Old Log was the first building at Pine Mountain. A note in a letter<\/a> to Friends of Pine Mountain, November 14, 1914, described the history of the building in the year of its reconstruction:<\/p>\n

While the mill was sawing splendid timber from trees out on our own ground, we built us, at the entrance to the grounds, our first house, a log cabin the logs for which had been hewn ninety years ago for the original home of the first settler on this property. We could not find it in our hearts to destroy the ancient landmarks, so we hewed a few new logs and rebuilt the house. <\/em><\/p>\n

With its wide porch, fireplace, and charming low-ceiled rooms, it preserves the cheerful homeliness of pioneer days. We have gathered into it not only the homespun covers, quaint bedsteads hand-wrought andirons, the hunter’s gun and pouch of the past, but a group of little boys who love to sit by the fire after supper singing “Barbara Allen” or swapping ha’nt tales. <\/em><\/p>\n

True to the spirit of the old days it is a hospitable house, and contrives to have a welcome and comfort for three grown ups and eight children in its two rooms, dog trot, and airy loft. In the morning it hums with sounds, while untrained little hands are learning how to make its beds “pretty” and keep its floors clean. At night you hear astonishing things, as teeth are washed and feet are scrubbed for bed. “I aim to stay with ye till you run me off. You don’t reckon you’ll run me off till I’m twenty, do ye?”<\/em><\/p>\n

The original structure, formerly owned by\u00a0Adrian Metcalf<\/strong> (born c. 1826), was not only a “cabin” but it was also a barn. The hand-hewn logs from the original Metcalf structures were brought to the present location just below the Indian Cliff<\/a>\u00a0at the entrance to the campus of Pine Mountain Settlement School and reconstructed to form an office and sleeping space for the first staff at the School while the larger cabin, Big Log<\/a>, was being constructed. One of the first residents was Katherine Pettit, co-founder of the School.<\/a><\/p>\n

The reconstructed log structure was in place by 1914, re-designed according to plans drawn up by the School’s architect, Mary Rockwell Hook<\/a>. The logs used in Old Log were described as “one hundred years old” in 1926, making the structure’s logs some one hundred and eighty-seven years old in 2013.\u00a0The total cost of the reconstruction is recorded as $605.00 in Evelyn Wells<\/a>‘ historical notes.<\/p>\n

Following the early occupation by staff, the building in the 1920s was designated as the weaving center and housed the hand-weaving activity of the Fireside Industries<\/strong> of the School. In 1937 the building was altered by the enclosure of the “dog trot,” the narrow go-between situated between the two cabin rooms. At this time an indoor bathroom was installed.<\/p>\n

Residents of the small cabin included Margaret Motter<\/a>, the Rogers<\/a> family, the Barry family, Barny Junkers, a physician who worked for the regional hospital, and in the 1980s, Paul Hayes<\/a>, Director, and his wife, Mattie.<\/p>\n

According to Peter Rogers, other residents were William Collins family (1954-1957), Betty Yeary (1970-1972) and Preston and Lane Lewis in approximately late 1970s.<\/p>\n

Peter Rogers, son of former director Burton Rogers,<\/a>\u00a0provides this first-hand account of a fire in Old Log in the 1970s:<\/p>\n

On the morning of\u00a0 ___1972(?) a fire started in the attic of Old Log, next to the oil heater. Betty Yeary who was living there at the time ran to the shop (Draper) to report it and the alarm was sounded. [Members of] the Board of Trustees were just sitting down to their meeting in Laurel House. <\/em><\/p>\n

Very quickly, staff, Board members and neighbors converged on the scene. Some battled the blaze while others rescued removable items. For a little while the fire kept pace with the efforts of those attempting to extinguish it but finally someone remembered to cut off the supply of oil from the tank behind the house. Then the fire began to abate and the house and most of its contents were saved. <\/em><\/p>\n

It took some time to repair the damage but it was soon ready to be used again. The landmark still stands and continues to serve the School. For several years in the early 2010s it housed the Gift Shop. Since then it has again become housing for staff.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1987, the small cabin was remodeled once again, this time to more comfortably accommodate staff. The kitchen and bathroom and upper level were given particular attention, as was a deteriorating back wall which was partially replaced.<\/p>\n

Old Log served as the Gift Shop for the institution until c. 2016, when the Gift Shop was relocated to Boys’ House.<\/p>\n

OLD LOG: Ethel de Long’s Description of Reconstruction<\/h3>\n

James S. Greene III, PMSS Board member and author of the dissertation entitled Progressives in the Kentucky mountains: the formative years of the Pine Mountain Settlement School, 1913-1930<\/span><\/a>, sent additional information about Old Log in an email dated August 6, 2018. It was in response to questions about Old Log history from Peter Rogers\u00a0and was copied to the co-editors of the PMSS Collections website.<\/p>\n

Peter,<\/p>\n

The phrasing of the [Dear Friend Letter]<\/a> you cite from November 1914, \u201cwe could not find it in our hearts to destroy the ancient landmarks,\u201d suggests to me that the remains of the house were on the property when they took possession of it.<\/p>\n

I have a note from a conversation I had with Alvin Boggs<\/a> on June 15, 1976, that reads as follows:\u00a0 “The house that Old Log was made from originally sat down in [a]\u00a0bottom and was two stories. When [a]\u00a0splash dam was built the house was moved because of the flooding that resulted.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point in time, I do not recall any details about the splash dam. That was an early point in my research and evidently it did not seem important enough for me to follow up on it. I would be interested in knowing where this dam was located. Alvin probably told me but at that time I was not familiar enough with the area for it to make full sense to me.<\/p>\n

These letters from Miss [Ethel] de Long<\/a> to her mother (Arabella) and sister (Helen) which are part of the Zande papers<\/a> within the school archives describe the building of Old Log:<\/p>\n

1. Undated letter to Arabella de Long, \u201cThursday evening, Dearest Mother, It is one of the very beautifullest days..\u201d Based on internal and external clues connecting it to other letters, this letter appears to have been written in April 1914:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the other interesting job is to see the logwall go up for our old log house. We tore the original dilapidated building down, & are making out of the hand hewn logs an old fashioned two pens & a passage house. As soon as it is finished, I think I shall go up & live in it with some child to keep house for me. I shall be there perhaps a month till the big house [Big Log<\/a>] is ready\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Letter, \u201cMonday Morning\u2014in the lumber yard, overseeing the lumber stacking\u2026\u201d\u00a0 This letter, based on internal clues, immediately follows the letter above.<\/p>\n

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Old Log under reconstruction, c. 1914. Mary Rockwell Hook album. [pmss_oldlog_hook_pg_46 – Edited -1.jpg]<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cYou see how busy we are?<\/em>
\n1.\u00a0 Finishing the log house [Big Log] (am getting lumber in dry kiln for that this A.M.)<\/em>
\n2.\u00a0 Restoring the original log house.\u00a0 (Jo Creech is on that today)<\/em>
\n3.\u00a0 Dam, reservoir, sanitary water closets.<\/em>
\n4,\u00a0 Planting gardens, corn, etc.<\/em>
\n5.\u00a0 Building tool house<\/a><\/em>
\n6.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 tiny log rest house.<\/em>
\n7.\u00a0 Excavating for Laurel<\/a>, or Family House.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Letter to Helen de Long, Tuesday A.M. [May 26? 1914]<\/p>\n

\u201cI am on the porch of the ‘Old Log House’ which is being rebuilt for a \u2018museum\u2019\u2014; two pens and a passage is the style of architecture; wide passage, porch 46\u2019 x 9\u2019, & low sloping roofs; chimney at each end; pretty windows; batten doors. I am coming up here to live as soon as it is done, Eve [Newman] & I & a couple of children. We will get it ready for the occupancy of guests & then I shall move on to the New Log House. I want to make this place the prettiest ever for our guests.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I\u2019m sitting here is to oversee the chimney bldg. & the scrubbing of the old logs & to \u2018counsel\u2019 the house builder.”<\/em><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Dearest Mother\u2014Fountain pen has gone dry\u2026 ”\u00a0 [June 5, 1914]<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd can you believe it?\u00a0 I have moved up to the dear old log house. It is perfectly wonderful to have a room of my own & my own things, that I packed last May<\/em>, actually unpacked. And to have three little boys, and to be living 1\/2 mile from the nearest neighbor! \u2026 The house as you know is the old-fashioned two pens and a passage\u2014with wide front porch\u2026. Yesterday & today I\u2019ve been bossing, having the house cleaned inside & out (all the logs have to be scrubbed after the cracks have been plastered), the grounds around cleaned, & the furniture moved.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 [To Arabella and Helen de Long]\u00a0 June Seven [1914]<\/p>\n

\u201cI look out of my window and see nothing but green, & such a cool green this morning for it is cloudy\u2026. I see bushes of blooming<\/em> laurel and even admire the 4 posts that hold up the roof of this house. Uncle Wm.\u00a0chose them, pine posts with the limbs sawed off three or four inches from the trunks, the handiest things for the little boys to climb & for \u2018a feller to scratch his back on.\u2019\u201d*<\/em><\/p>\n

I have always enjoyed this image of William Creech<\/a> thinking about the children who were going to live in the house and wanting to do something to make living there more pleasurable for them.<\/p>\n

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“John Peter, November 1958.” Peter Rogers on Old Log porch. Note the post with sawed-off limb. [pmss_peter_rogers_nace_II_album_052 – Edited.jpg]<\/p><\/div>*In reference to Ethel de Long’s letter of June 7, 1914, Peter Rogers wrote\u00a0in an August 19, 2018 email “…yes, I can personally vouch for the attraction of the front porch posts for young boys — and of the grapevines that still grow on them!”<\/p>\n

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OLD\u00a0LOG: Gallery<\/h3>\n\n\t\t