About Log Cabin

Oct 1, 2008 Log Cabin History

photo credit: without you.A log cabin is a small house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. Log cabins were built both in rural areas and in cities in timber-rich regions around the world, but particularly in the northern hemisphere. Although their origin is uncertain, the first log structures were probably built in northern Europe in the Bronze Age.

By the time Europeans began to settle in America, there was a long tradition of using logs for houses, barns, and other outbuildings in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, and Northern Russia.

In the United States, log structures were first constructed by Finnish and Swedish settlers in what is now Wilmington, Delaware, beginning in 1638. Later German immigrants also used this technique. The Scots, and Scots-Irish had no tradition of building with logs, but they quickly adopted the method. Log cabins were not widely used by the first English settlers.

Few log cabins dating from the 18th century still stand, but they were not intended as permanent dwellings. When a larger, more formal house was constructed, log cabins were often converted into outbuildings for chicken coops, animal shelters, or other utilitarian uses.

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