What do you think? Would you like to live in a log cabin? Ask a friend or family member to help you explore one or more of the following fun activities. They're supposedly named after Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin in Kentucky and grew up in another log cabin in Indiana. These toys are notched dowel rods that resemble small logs. Today, many kids enjoy building their own miniature log cabins with toys called Lincoln Logs. When English settlers began to come to America, they often built more traditional houses and converted existing log cabins to outbuildings to be used as animal shelters or sheds. Since most log cabins were not meant as permanent dwellings, not many old log cabins still exist. Over time, a family could build a new log cabin from the ground up in just a few days. These were often pine and spruce trees, which were readily available in large numbers in the forests that covered the unsettled frontier.Īs people began to grow in their experience with building log cabins, they developed better tools to help in construction. Log cabin builders would look for the tallest, straightest trees they could find. Fortunately, the insulating properties of wood tended to make log cabins cozier than wooden huts covered with animal skins. To make their log cabins warmer and resistant to bad weather, settlers would fill the cracks between logs with mud or moss (called daubing) or sticks and rocks (called chinking). For example, they eventually created interlocking corners by cutting notches in the ends of the logs. Over time, their building processes got more sophisticated. When these peoples began to settle the Americas, they brought their traditions of building log cabins with them.Įarly settlers probably made their first log cabins by simply stacking tree trunks one on top of another and overlapping the trunks at the corners. Historians believe log cabins may have gotten their start in Northern Europe and Scandinavia. Today, modern log homes are built with hand-worked - called hewn - logs that fit together more securely than simple round logs. Most pioneer log cabins were made with basic round logs. They were often built as temporary shelters when first arriving in an area. Unlike modern log homes, most pioneer log cabins were simple one-story structures that often consisted of only one room. Have you ever WONDERed how the old pioneers went about building their log cabin homes? In fact, many people prefer them because of their rustic charm and natural beauty.īut back in the day, they could be a chore to build. Of course, most log cabins today can be built with all the conveniences of any modern home. If you've ever been to the mountains, you may have stayed in a log cabin. And houses? They were often homemade cabins made with rough logs. Running water was available…if you had a running stream or river nearby! Cooking took place over an open fire. Pioneers didn't have all the modern comforts that we have today. Would you have liked to have lived back in the pioneer days? Sure, it would have been neat to have been friends with Abraham Lincoln.
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