Log Cabins in America:
The Finnish Experience

(Alice Koskella, 1980) L og cabins are as American as Fourth of July fireworks, baseball, and the bald eagle. Think of a pioneer and chances are you think of a log cabin: could Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett have lived in any other kind of house? Can you imagine the 1840 election--"Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!"--without remembering the log-cabin-and-cider campaign? Would we be so impressed with Abe Lincoln if he had learned his letters under a crystal chandelier in a brick, Georgian-style house? Is it conceivable that Laura Ingalls Wilder's little house on the prairie was anything but a snug log structure? Assuredly, log cabins are enmeshed in American history, folklore, and myth.

TABLE OF CONTENTS About This Lesson Getting Started: Inquiry Question Setting the Stage: Historical Context Locating the Site: Maps 1. Finnish speaking population, 1920 Determining the Facts: Readings 1. The Log Cabin Tradition 2. Long Valley Finnish Structures 3. Log Cabin Politics Visual Evidence: Images 1. Notching systems 2. Detail of corner notching 3. Exterior wall detail 4. Teacher's cottage 5. Goat barn 6. Log barn 7. Sauna Putting It All Together: Activities 1. Folk Housing 2. Role Play 3. Modern Log Housing Supplementary Resources

RELATED INFORMATION How to Use a TwHP Lesson Lessons on Related Topics TwHP Home National Register Home About the National Register How the National Register Helps Teachers Contact TwHP This lesson is based on Long Valley Finnish Structures, one of the many thematic groups listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Continue

Comments or Questions
Privacy & Disclaimer
Site optimized for V4.0
& above browsers

TCP