Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
examples of this type, however, so the method is not
sound for determining age.
Whipsawn boards almost always identify a house as
being built before 1850. True, some vertical sawmills
were in use afterward, but the circle saw, with its effi-
ciency, had replaced most of them by then. Straight,
uneven cuts indicate a man-powered pit saw; regular
patterns mean mechanical power, usually water or
steam. I know of many houses from the 1850s with
rough, circle-sawn boards and beams.
Also, during the Civil War era, three-inch beams
were replaced by two-inch lumber. Older houses have
3≈4 rafters, where later ones will have 2≈4 or 2≈6
rafters and often two-inch-thick joists.
Older houses had almost no eave, whereas 20th-
century versions project all around. The exception was
the early house with a catted chimney, where the
builder often projected the eaves on the chimney gable
end only to keep the mud dry.
Study the history of the area to determine settle-
ment dates. A claim of 1790s age in an area not settled
until 1840 is obviously far-fetched. Sometimes early
houses were built in isolated areas, in advance of set-
tlement. An abstract of the actual property will deter-
mine the homestead date, if nothing else.
Hutslar mentions the science of dendrochronology,
or comparison of log growth rings to established
regional patterns. If a log's rings extend to the bark
edge at any point, the exact year of its cutting can be
established by matching the pattern of growth to age-
known wood. Seasonal irregularities will be similar,
allowing close comparison. You can assume that the
original construction, or at least the hewing, took
place the same year, because no log hacker in his right
mind tackles seasoned timber. Check your state uni-
versity for a possible growth scale.
Perhaps the most involved search for a log house's
origins was that concerning Lincoln's birthplace. Wes-
lager traces it through moves, reassemblies, rebuild-
ings, and changes of hands to its present, largely
accepted status as Abe's first home.
Whatever its age, its origin, or location, the hewn-
log house has become a classic emblem of the pioneer
era in the United States. It is a symbol of an age of
timber, of craftsmanship, of our country's broad-
shouldered youth.
