The "old" Cabins at Preserve at Maple Creek being researched

The research team at the cabin. Photo Contributed.

Recently a research team led by Maegen Rochner, PhD, from the University of Louisville Tree-Ring Lab, took core samples from the logs of the oldest cabins at the Preserve at Maple Creek, formerly the Sims-Hodge Farm, near Rutherfordton. The samples will become part of a national tree ring data bank to provide important information on area history, climate, ecology and human-environment interactions.

Their work primarily focused on two cabins, the Logan-Hodge frontier cabin and the Red Roof cabin.

According to a late 1950s family newsletter The Woodnote, the Logan cabin was built by Joseph Logan in the Westminster Community around 1749. The original cabin was a logical stopping place for travelers, settlers, miners and herders from Tennessee to Columbia, S.C. Furman Hodge purchased the cabin from a relative of Logan and moved it to the Sims-Hodge farm in 1957. The restoration was tedious as great care was taken to restore the house as authentically as possible. The left wing addition to the cabin came from a 1795 log cabin from Shingle Hollow. Apparently the wing of the original structure was too decayed to salvage. Based on the age and condition of the logs, the research team hopes the dendroarchaeological data or tree-ring data will fill some of the chronological gaps in their database.

A second cabin, referred to as the Red Roof cabin, was moved to the farm from Union Mills. It dates to the 1820s according to family records. Clearly, the Hodge family were preservation pioneers in the 1950s. Thanks to their efforts we now have these well maintained log cabins to study and share with visitors.

Like many eastern states, North Carolina old-growth forests disappeared due to logging and farming by early settlers. By studying these old log cabins, researchers at the University of Louisville Tree-Ring Laboratory will hopefully be able to improve and spatially extend tree-ring network across the southeast US.

The Preserve at Maple Creek is private property and open only to invited or registered guests staying at The Preserve, said Steve and Laura Duncan, owners.