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THE
DAVIS HOUSE
CLICK ON YOUR CHOICES
BELOW FOR DETAILED CLOSE UPS! |
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This house took John E. Davis, his wife & two young sons
approximately 2 years to build with 'matched' chestnut logs ,
(around 1900), in the INDIAN CREEK / THOMAS DIVIDE area just
north of Bryson City, NC.. where afterwards they had three
additional children. |
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THE MEAT
HOUSE |
| This meat
house was originally built in Little
Cataloochee, NC, and was located close to the main house, as
was usually done, for security and convenience of that precious
commodity. Animals (primarily hogs) were butchered in late
fall / early winter to take advantage of colder temperatures to
naturally protect the salt and or smoking preservation methods
which took considerable amounts of time. |
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THE WOOD
SHED |
| The WOOD
SHED was the 'source of power' as it supplied warmth as well as
heat fro cooking food, as well as generating heat for other
purposes such as making molasses, lye soap etc. And last
but not least...if a child was misbehaving, one stern look might
remind them of previous 'visits' to the 'wood shed'
<smile> |
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THE ASH
HOPPER |
| Ashes
from the fireplace and stove were utilized to add nutrients to
the soil, sprinkled on plans for a natural way of insect
control, and also put in the ASH HOPPER. As it rained, the
water would filter through the ashes, bringing with it the
alkali (lye) which was collected and when combined with animal
fat (mostly lard from the hogs), then heat the mixture to
produce LYE SOAP! |
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BROOMCORN |
| Broomcorn is a
member of the sourghum plant family and is the source of
broomstraw for making brooms. It was introduced to this
country from Asia in the late 1700's. The straw is part of
the seed head that grows at the top of the plant. Once the
seeds develop, the broomstraw is cut and stacked to dry.
After drying, the seeds are removed and the straw s ready for
making brooms. Some seeds were saved for the next years
crop; the rest could be fed to livestock. |
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BEEGUMS |
| Honey was
frequently used as a sugar substitute as well as a source of
income selling excess honey to others. Black gum trees
typically become hollow as the age, making them a fantastic site
for beehives (thus the name 'beegums', and with a bottom and
hinged lid, and henceforth, tupperwa..just kidding...made ideal
storage bins! |
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CHICKEN
HOUSE |
| A CHICKEN
HOUSE was sort of a luxury, as many pioneers simply planted a
cedar tree near the house where chickens could roost for
protection. Chickens played an important role on the farm,
as they not only provided eggs and meat, (collecting eggs was a
daily chore for the kids) , along with providing feathers for
mattresses and pillows! |
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APPLE HOUSE |
| For the
mountain family, apples were a staple -- eaten raw and used to
make cider, vinegar, apple sauce, apple butter and pies.
Storing them was important, as evidenced by this substantial
apple house. Summer apples were stored on the upper floor,
hardier winter apples were put in the ground-floor bins.
Earth and thick stone walls provided insulation from cold and
heat. This apple house was originally in Little
Cataloochee, NC, that farm produced apples for commercial
use until they could be hauled to market. It was built
into a hillside which provided access to the upper door on the
back side. |
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MOLASSES
FURNACE |
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A molasses furnace was a sort of a luxury, and neighbors would
commonly bring their extracted cane juice (10 gallons would
typically make one gallon of molasses) and use one's furnace (or
cooker) and in turn give the owner a portion of the molasses. |
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CANE MILL |
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Sorghum cane was a common crop on area farms, which was fed into
the rollers while a powered by a horse or mule. |
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CORN CRIB |
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Corn cribs house the family's most important crop. Corn
fed humans and livestock. Family's consumed it both fresh
and as a corn meal cooked into dishes such as mush and
cornbread. After allowing corn to dry on the stalk,
farmers stored it on the cob. The crib provided protection
against weather and large animals. Almost every farm had a
corn crib. Some combined a crib and a gear shed, where the
farmer also stored tools and implements. These cribs below
are from Deep Creek, NC area. |
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COMPOST PILE |
| Farmers
made their own fertilizer by the use of compost
piles. |
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BARN |
| This
is the ONLY building that was not moved here from another site,
although it was approximately 200 yards from where it is
now. Essential to the farmer for shelter for animals in
harsh weather, feed was stored many times conveniently in the
loft above. Barns offered easy construction, made of logs,
and required very little maintenance. You could often tell
prosperity of the family by the size of the barn. |
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PIG PEN |
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Hogs were the most abundant livestock as they were a primary
source of meat, and the lard produced from the fat was utilized
in making lye soap and cooking. They had multiple litters
of pigs, and reached butchering size in about a year at little
cost, as many farmers would mark an identifying mark on an ear,
and let them forage in the woods for food, and would
occasionally bring feed to a particular spot in the forest to
get them used to that spot, where they could be easily caught
when time to put them in the PIG PEN and fatten them up for
harvest. |
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BLACKSMITH
SHOP |
| This
structure was moved from Cades
Cove, TN. Some farms had their own blacksmith shop setup,
where a farmer could make repairs to equipment & tools,
recycling iron was common. |
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SPRINGHOUSE |
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A reliable source of drinking water was important when selecting
a house site. A good spring met that need and also
provided a means for keeping perishable foods. Water from
a spring flowed through the springhouse in a rock lined channel
in the floor or in an elevated wooden trough like the one in
this structure. Containers of perishable food, especially
dairy products, were placed in the trough and were
'refrigerated' by the cool water flowing around them.
Crocks, barrels and jars containing a variety of less perishable
foods were sometimes stored in the springhouse as well, particularly
during warm weather. The building also protected the food
stored there from animals. |
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WORK/REST
SHELTERS |
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Certain areas
required that small shelters or structures be built for comfort
and practicality. This skill was handed down from dad to
son. |
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