Backcountry Notes

Note: click on any image to bring up a larger version of the picture.

The log building shown to the right is presently under re-construction at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia.  At this point the walls are up, but the building is not yet under roof and the window and door frames are not yet installed.  This provides a good look at how such buildings were made.

At left is a closer view of the same side of the structure.  This view illustrates the use of shims and boards to keep the timbers level and true while the construction progresses.

To the right is a view of a front corner of the structure.  Again, note the use of shims and boards at this stage of the work.  The corner joints are Pike joints, also called V-joints and steeple joints.  There is a mix of vintage and new timbers in this structure, with the old timbers coming from more than one source.

The image to the left shows the detail of the Pike joints.  Note that the timbers have been dressed so that they are roughly centered in the original log and the heartwood patterns are clearly visible.

 Below: a view of the construction which shows, through the window opening, the inside corner of a joint.

This view shows a back corner of the structure.  The back wall contains the most weathered timbers; the timber third from the top has been repaired.

Corner view showing how the lowest timber is notched and then cut flat on the bottom for a close fit.  This is another old timber which has been repaired.

On the right, another corner view showing an old timber cut to fit flush against the foundation stones.

Below: the Frontier Culture Museum replica 1740s settler's cabin, made with round logs and saddle joints.  This style of cabin was readily adopted by the Scotch-Irish when they moved into the Alleghanies; it was relatively easy to build and required few tools.

Left: corner of the 1740s cabin, illustrating the use of round logs and saddle joints.

Below:  a view showing the placement of purlins in the gable.

Doorway of the log cabin showing the shape and placement of the sill log and the use of planks to frame the doorway. The lower runs of logs have been chinked (chicked) and partly daubed (dobbed).

The image to the right shows the use of wooden pegs to frame the doorway and hold the logs in place.

Below: view of the interior showing the purlins and, to the right, the use of cedar shakes to complete the roof.  Later structures would use fewer purlins, covered by sawn boards and then by shingles.

Closeup showing use of long cedar shakes for the roof.

To the right, a view of the corner of the original 1770s section of the "1820s American Farm House" at the Frontier Culture Museum.  This pen was built using dovetail joints; the 1820s expansion used Pike joints.  The use of dressed logs and dovetail-notched joints resulted from the adaptation of the Scandanavian method of using round logs and saddle joints by English and German settlers who were accustomed to using timbers with pegged or dovetailed joints. 

Left: a closeup view of the English Yeoman's farm house, showing the use of dovetailed joints.  These dovetails had to be replaced, so the new wood stands out clearly.

Below: German farm house has both pegged and dovetailed joints; dovetail is visible at lower left.

As the log cabins at the Frontier Culture Museum and at Historic Crab Orchard Museum demonstrate, the dovetail-joint method was used in many early log houses built in the 1770s to about 1800, but was gradually displaced by half-dovetail joints and Pike joints, which predominate in later surviving examples. 

RELATED ARTICLES:

Backcountry Architecture - - The Craft of Log Cabin Corner Joints

Virginia's Frontier Culture Museum

Log Cabins and Stone Buildings