Applications

Log Building Construction in Mecklenburg County From 1920 to 1945

By Stewart Gray for the Charlotte - Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission

Introduction

In 1992 I was talking with Tom Mayes of the National Trust for Historic Preservation about the Ramah Presbyterian Church Hut located in Huntersville, North Carolina.  The Hut was to be moved about 100’ to the north to allow for a new Educational Building.  Tom and I had both grown up in the neighborhood, and we shared an interest in the local history and in the historic built environment.  Tom mentioned that the design and construction of the Hut had nothing to do with the local log traditions.  That thought stuck with me until Spring 2005 when I visited the Providence Women's Club, Community House (1939).  While I had seen pictures of the Community House and knew that the two buildings were both front-gabled and featured round-logs, I was not prepared for the striking similarities in the two buildings.  With the exceptions of add-on kitchens, the buildings are nearly identical.  Far from being neighbors, these two buildings were located on the opposite ends of Mecklenburg County.  Several other early-20^th century log buildings were known to exist in Mecklenburg County, but a cursory review of local and state-wide architectural history literature failed to identify any trends or movements that would have directly led to the construction of these buildings.   The following question formed the basis of the survey: 

What was the origin of this building type in Mecklenburg County?

1.      Was there a movement sponsored by the government, churches, or some other institution that led to the construction of round-log buildings in Mecklenburg County from 1920 to 1945?

2.      Were there popular architectural styles that influenced the construction of these buildings?

3.      How prevalent are these buildings in Mecklenburg County?

4.      What other factors may have contributed to the adoption of this building style?

Objectives

The goals of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission in sponsoring this report are to identify historically significant properties in Mecklenburg County and further the understanding of the county’s history.    

Methodology

The two properties that inspired this survey, the Ramah Presbyterian Church Hut (1937) and the Providence Women's Club, Community House (1939), had been previously documented by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.  A Survey and Research report for the Community House was produced in 1994.  A Survey and Research report for Ramah Presbyterian Church was produced in 1979, and it includes some information pertaining to the Hut.  The 2001-2002 Survey of African-American Historic Sites in Mecklenburg County conducted by the author and Dr. Paula Stathakis identified two additional early 20^th-century log buildings. 

The survey structure was, by necessity, dynamic.  Having spent several years working for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, I knew that this type of building was rare.  A traditional windshield-survey would have been nearly impossible.  Instead I began interviewing people associated with the four identified log buildings and those who had spent time studying the county’s built environment.   Leads led to more fieldwork, which consisted of visiting the properties, making notes and taking photographs.

As the discovery and identification of the buildings proceeded, I examined the national and local literature that pertained to early 20^th-century log building construction.  While there are some very important and helpful studies of early 20^th-century log and rustic architecture, a lack of literature specific to North Carolina and Mecklenburg County led me to examine both local motives and popular images and ideas that may have influenced the construction of these buildings.

Any of the surveyed properties that has retained a good degree of integrity should be considered as a significant historical resource in terms of Mecklenburg County.  Given the rarity of these buildings, even those that have been altered or are in poor condition may offer important information in understanding the buildings as a group.  Built in rural areas and in some of the neighborhoods of the county’s small towns, these buildings are helpful in understanding the agricultural/rural nature that hascharacterized Mecklenburg County for most of its history.

Log Construction in Mecklenburg County from 1920 – 1945

Early Log Construction Traditions in Mecklenburg County

The origins of log building construction in the New World are still debated.  What is clear though is that log construction technology moved down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania and into the Shenandoah Valley and into the North Carolina Piedmont and Appalachian Mountains.  These log buildings in the North Carolina Piedmont are notable for the prevalence of the half dovetail notched corners, and squared or hewn sides.  The conformity of notch design in North Carolina is notable when compared to the limited variety of notch designs found in neighboring Tennessee and Virginia. [1]

In terms of log traditional log buildings, Mecklenburg County is typical for the North Carolina Piedmont.  Practically all of the surviving 18^th and 19^th century log buildings in the county feature square hewn logs and half-dovetail notches.  These basic construction traits can be found on the county’s oldest surviving log buildings, such as the 1780 Hugh Torrence Store[2] and the 1780 McAuley Log House.   The same log construction technique continued to be utilized into the 19^th century with the construction of substantial two-story homes, such as the 1811 Potts Place in northern Mecklenburg  and the nearby 1829 Beaver Dam.  As sawmills sprang up and frame construction became prevalent, log construction continued to be used in rural Mecklenburg County.  Despite the overwhelming trend toward frame construction the tenacity of the log building tradition in house building is demonstrated by the 1881 McAuley House[3], which again employed square-hewn logs notched with half-dovetails.   Therefore, in Mecklenburg County extant buildings demonstrate at least one hundred years of relatively unchanged home building technology. 

It is easy to assume that the same factors that encouraged log construction in homes led to log barns and other outbuildings.  While difficult to date, single and double pen log barns are associated with both early 19^th-century farms, such as the 1831 plantation Cedar Grove, and later homes, such as the ca. 1881 Edward M. Rozzell House, the ca. 1875 Jordan Farm, and the ca. 1900 Frank Vance Farm.  The frequent association of log outbuildings with late 19^th-century farmhouses seems to indicate that limited traditional log construction in Mecklenburg County continued until 1900. 

Origins of Rustic Architecture in Mecklenburg County

As early as 1840 the “log cabin” had begun to capture the imagination of the American people.  With the Log Cabin Campaign of William Henry Harrison, Americans began to associate log buildings with the valor of “humble beginnings” and republican ideals.  America’s early mass media quickly recognized the iconic power of the log cabin image, and that image remained pervasive.  In the 1930s Harold R. Shurtleff wrote, “By the turn of the century (1900), after many illustrations and countless picture postcards representing Puritan or Cavalier at home – always in a log cabin- had been distributed, a sort of psychological predisposition grew up to make a log of every timber.”[4]  This prevalence of the “log cabin” in popular culture was surely one of the factors that influenced the building of Mecklenburg’s early 20^th-century log buildings.

Around the same time that traditional log construction was dying-out in Mecklenburg County, a popular movement concentrating on rustic, naturalist designs and materials was developing in other parts of the country.   Inspired by the plans and ideas of A. J. Downing, a mid 19^th-century designer of buildings and landscapes, wealthy Americans such as J.P. Morgan built elaborate “camps” in the Adirondack Mountains.  These buildings, many of which featured log walls, were designed to blend in with the natural features of the landscape and to utilize materials such as timbers, bark and rough stones which had been worked very little[5].  Rustic architecture was also adopted by the growing National Park Service beginning in the first years of the 20^th century, when stone and log buildings wereerected in the western parks such as Yosemite and Yellowstone.[6]

In the first years of the 20^th century, while many Mecklenburg County farmers continued to live in and use traditional log buildings, architect Henry Bacon was introducing rustic and picturesque architecture as a popular style into North Carolina.    Bacon, who worked with the New York architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White, utilized bark siding and unpeeled tree trunks and limbs in the construction of the 1900 Van Landingham Cottage and the 1913 All Saints Episcopal Church, both located in Linville.[7]  Also in the North Carolina Mountains, E.W. Grove built the rustic Grove Park Inn, inspired by the mountain lodges he had seen in Yellowstone Park.  As was typical for many historic building styles, these high-styled, architect-designed homes and hotels of the wealthy inspired popular imitation.

During the 19^th century, pattern books featuring house plans were widely available and allowed for the distribution of the Queen Anne Style across the nation.[8]  By 1900, pattern books began to appear featuring log buildings as well as other rustic architecture. The first such book might have been Log Cabins: How to Build and Furnish Them by William S. Wicks, published in 1899.   Other titles followed such as How to Build Cabins, Lodges, and Bungalows; Complete Manual of Constructing, Decorating, and Furnishing Homes for Recreation or Profit, published in 1934 by Popular Science magazine, and the 1939 How to Build and Furnish a Log Cabin by W. Ben Hunt.

Another possible source for inspiration in Mecklenburg County may have been the Boy Scouts of America.  With the Mecklenburg County Council chartered in 1915[9], men and boys throughout the county were exposed to “log cabin” plans and building instruction found in the first three editions of the Handbook for Boys, and in supplementary books such as The Boy Scouts Year Book, published in 1917.  Even though “log cabin” construction was dropped from the handbook after 1927, log building techniques continued to be included in supplemental Scout publications like the 1931 Preparing the Way: Pioneering.

Other less instructional sources for log building designs and inspiration may have come from the exploding consumer culture of the early 20^th century.  Log cabin images appeared on everything from sheet music to whiskey bottles.  Log Cabin Syrup, named to honor (or capitalize on) the humble beginnings of Abraham Lincoln, came in a tin container shaped and printed to resemble a log cabin.[10]  The container’s spout was shaped like a central chimney.  While these products may have been consumed in many households, Lincoln Logs may have given the general public their most personal and hands-on experience with log building. Designed by John Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright) and patented in 1920,  Lincoln Logs sold by the millions[11].

With formation of the Civilian Conservation Corp, (CCC) and the Work Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression, log building experienced a renewed vitality.  The National Park Service was seen by the Roosevelt Administration as a “well-organized and highly professional bureau” that could be used to implement relief projects. [12] With the Park Service providing intensive assistance to the nation’s state parks, the log building tradition of the NPS continued in state and local parks throughout the country.[13]  Where logs were available, log buildings may have been built because the WPA made construction funds available to local communities for public buildings if the communities would provide construction materials.[14] While there is no evidence that these government programs led directly to the building of any log buildings in Mecklenburg County, the high profile of these projects may have had an influence on the building of the Community House and the nearly identical Ramah and Mt. Zion huts.  The record of the North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration states that:

Much interest was shown in rural community centers…it was urged that all structures at these centers be built from native materials, such as logs or native stone, and that the people interested furnish the necessary manufactured material so that it may be possible to do work on rural community centers under the ERA program.