The core of the main house was built on a half-acre lot about 1810. Nearly doubled in size about 1837, the house underwent further alterations between the 1870s and 1901, by which time it was re-oriented to face the road rather than the courthouse complex.
A second half-acre lot was added about 1823-24 and two more acres about 1848. The log kitchen—later covered with siding— may date as early as 1837, but probably is from the 1850s. The frame smokehouse may also be from the 1850s.
The size of the kitchen and its rare surviving smoke hood suggest that they were used for smoking meat, perhaps on a commercial scale. The smokehouse building may have been only for curing or storage, while meat continued to be smoke-fired in the log kitchen. Or, the later addition of a chimney and fireplace to the kitchen building could mean that the smoke hood was abandoned, prompting construction of a separate smokehouse.
In either case, when stoves replaced fireplace cooking, the kitchen building took on other functions, briefly serving as a school, and later as a separate home called "The Cottage."
Comments 0 comments