GREENCASTLE-ANTRIM- The Allison-Antrim Museum hosted their monthly history seminar in the German Bank Barn at 7 p.m. this past Thursday, Jan. 8. The name of the event was “Franklin County’s Settlement Houses: The Venerable Log Cabin.” The guest speaker for the event was log cabin expert, Douglass Reed, who is also a local architectural historian.
Log cabins were among the earliest dwellings in human history with evidence dating back to mid-3000 B.C. in the European region. In fact, it was Swedish and Finnish immigrants who first brought the structural concept to North America in the 1600’s. Mr. Reed shared documented evidence that it was these same European descendants who settled in the Central Pennsylvania region and built log homes while they cultivated the land for farming.
Using information and photographic evidence he has collected in his 37-year career investigating and constructing log homes, Reed shared with the audience not just a history of some of the homes that still stand in Franklin County, but also the different techniques used in constructing them, such as dovetailing and notching.
Many of the homes he shared images of are from around the region, both historic and modern. He shared photos from construction and restoration projects he has been hired to do as well as scholastic research such as an authentic contract from the early 1700’s that described in detail the early process of constructing a log cabin.
This was the first monthly history seminar of the new year hosted by the Allison-Antrim Museum which is located at 365 S. Ridge Ave. Admission to these events is free, however donations are always welcome and appreciated. To learn more about the museum and upcoming events visit: www.greencastlemuseum.org.
