Davis-Queen House

Davis-Queen House

At The Mountain Farm Museum,most of the structures were built in the late 19th century and were moved here in the 1950s. The Davis-Queen House offers a rare chance to view a log house built from chestnut wood before the chestnut blight decimated the American Chestnut in our forests during the 1930s and early 1940s. The museum is adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center,On the NC side of Hwy.441 in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

The Davis/Queen house was originally located on Thomas Divide north of Bryson City along Indian Creek. Beginning about 1900, it was built by John E. Davis over a period of a couple years. The house was constructed from American chestnut trees. About 1917 the Davis’ sold their farm to a neighboring family, Joe Thad Queens, who owned the house at the time the land was purchased for inclusion in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It has been described as “the finest example of the large log house in the park.”

Davis was a master craftsman who built the house with the aid of his two boys. He “matched” the log walls by splitting a tree in half and using the resulting timbers on opposite sides of the structure. In addition to other duties, his sons, ages 8 and 4, respectively, collected stones for the chimney using a sled and oxen. It is the only log house in the Smokies with a decorative shingle pattern underneath the eaves.

Poplar and Chestnut were usually used for the logs in the cabin due how they resist rot and decay.Oak was usually used for the shakes as it split, stright and thin, easier.

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