Backcountry Notes

Walker Cabin -- see (14), belowThe State of Tennessee was pure Backcountry, untainted by Cavaliers or Puritans in colonial and early American times, and so a large proportion of its settlers lived in log cabins. Tennessee was the adopted home of the first Scotch-Irish Backcountry President, Andrew Jackson, who was reputed to have been born in a log cabin in Waxhaws, barely inside the South Carolina line, and who thus became the first of the "born-in-a-log-cabin" paradigm for Presidential contenders. In contrast to the unfortunate situation in other states, Tennesseans are proud of their log-cabin heritage and there are accordingly many surviving examples of this Backcountry architecture in the state.

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(1) Arnwine Cabin, Norris, TN. Built by Wes Arnwine in the early 1800s and used by his descendants until 1936, this single-pen cabin now stands on the grounds of the Museum of Appalachia.

(2) Ogle Cabin, Gatlinburg, TN. Built circa 1807 and the oldest structure in Gatlinsburg, this cabin is located on the grounds of the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

(3) Avent Cabin. Built around 1850 by the Ownby family, it was used as a studio by Nashville artist Mayna Avent in the 1920s and 30s. It is located within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

(4) Baxter Cabin. Built in 1889 by Willis Baxter, now within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

(5) Mahala Mullins Cabin, Hancock County, TN. The home of Melungeon moonshiner Mahala Mullins (1824–1898).

(6) Brabson's Ferry Cabin. Located on the grounds of Brabson's Ferry Plantation near Sevierville, TN.(7) Cordell Hull Birthplace, Byrdstown, TN. Located on the grounds of the Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park.

(8) "Dan'l Boone" Cabin, Museum of Appalachia. Norris, TN. Never the home of Daniel Boone, this 19th-century cabin was featured in the Fox TV series, "Young Dan'l Boone."(9) Davy Crockett Birthplace Cabin, Greeneville, TN. This cabin was reconstructed in the 1970s with logs from a cabin owned by the Stonecypher family which, according to family tradition, had been built with logs from the original Crockett cabin.

(10) Davy Crockett Cabin, Rutherford, TN. This reconstructed cabin is located in downtown Rutherford, which calls itself the "Last Home of Davy Crockett."

(11) General Bunch House, Norris, TN. Built in 1898, this reconstructed double-pen cabin now stands on the grounds of the Museum of Appalachia.(12) Christopher Taylor House, Jonesborough, TN. Built circa 1777, this unusual two-story cabin has been reconstructed in downtown Jonesborough.

(13) "John Sevier Cabin," Marble Springs, TN. Traditionally attributed to John Sevier, this cabin was built by someone else in the 1830s. Two single-pens, a one-story and a 1-1/2 story, with dogtrot(14) Walker Cabin, built circa 1828 in Knox County and moved in 1987 to Marble Springs, TN.

(15) Mark Twain Family Cabin, Norris, TN. Originally located at Possum Trot in Fentress County, TN, this cabin is said to have been owned by John Clemens, father of Samuel Clemens, better known as author Mark Twain. Now located on the grounds of the Museum of Appalachia.(16) McClung House, Museum of Appalachia, Norris, TN. This classic dog-trot cabin is believed to have been built in the 1790s by the McClung family of Knoxville. (17) Nathaniel Parker Cabin, Sumner County, TN. Built by Nathaniel Parker in the 1780s, this cabin now stands on the grounds of Bledsoe's Fort Historical Park.

(18) Peters House, Norris, TN. Originally located near Luttrell, Tennessee, this early 19th-century "saddlebag" cabin is now part of the Museum of Appalachia's "Old Homestead" collection.(19) Thompson-Brown House, Maryville, TN. This handsomely-symmetrical double-pen two-story cabin is the home of the Blount County Historic Trust Museum.

(20) Smoky Mountain Hiking Club Cabin. Now owned by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this cabin was built in 1934 using logs and other materials from the ruins of vintage cabins.

For more Tennessee log cabins, see:

Log Cabins and Buildings of Cades Cove

Log Cabins and Buildings of the Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains

NOTE: The images in this article have been modified and re-sized from the originals. The original images are licensed under one or more of the following: the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license; the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License; the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or later; the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license; or the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license. Image (10): original image by Chiacomo; all others: original image by Brian Stansberry.