Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 10: BUILT ENVIRONMENT
House in the Woods, c. 1914 – 1934

HOUSE IN THE WOODS, c. 1914 – 1934

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TAGS: House in the Woods, classrooms, pavilions, teachers, organs, music, celebrations, Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain KY, Farm House, Barn, Jubilee cottage, road to Line Fork, railings, children, dancing

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Open Instruction in the Early Days

“House in the Woods” was one of the first buildings constructed on the campus of Pine Mountain Settlement School. (Old Log was older, but had been moved to the School and re-constructed on its current site.)

House in the Woods was constructed to serve as a shelter for the first classes and recreation and community events held at the School. It was located on the south-facing mountain above Farm House and the Barn, roughly where the Jubilee cottage now sits. Since it was next to the road to Line Fork as that road passed through the campus, the building was easily accessed by the community coming from either Big Laurel or the Line Fork area.

“House in the Woods” was used as a school house until 1918 when living rooms were ready and were used for instruction. As an open-air pavilion, the structure was inadequate for year-round use, but was heavily used during periods of good weather. It was built in the late spring or early summer and was financed by the community through box suppers.

“House” does not describe the actual structure which was more a pavilion, consisting of one large platform of about 40 feet by 40 feet. The pavilion housed an organ used for music and dance events. It had railing around much of the platform to protect users from falling into the woods that surrounded the building.

Remarkably, the building held together for many years and was used for a variety of community events. By the late 1930s it finally had deteriorated enough to necessitate its removal from the site. It was finally torn down in 1934 due to its deteriorated state. Gyn Morris, then-director, noted in a letter from June 20, 1934, that he

… was sorry to see that the “House in the Woods,” one of the earliest features of the school, had been torn down and that the remaining material was hanging and scattered about in a most shiftless manner. In April 1915 when first I visited Pine Mountain, Sunday School was held in the building, subsequently Fourth of July exercises and Faire were conducted therein, and I looked upon it as a connecting link with the past which should have been retained, but if not, some sort of order in piling up the material should be observed ….

When the earliest classes were held in the House in the Woods, many of the images show children in various recreational activities at the School, particularly dancing. However, the badly damaged photograph below shows the students clearly engaged in studies.

GALLERY: House in the Woods

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BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Title	House in the Woods
Alt. Title	House in the Woods Pavilion
Identifier	HOUSE IN THE WOODS
Creator	Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY
Alt. Creator	Ann Angel Eberhardt, Helen Hayes Wykle ;
Subject Keyword	House in the Woods ; classrooms ; pavilions ; teachers ; organs ; music ; celebrations ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Farm House ; Barn ; Jubilee cottage ; road to Line Fork ; railings ; children ; dancing ;
Subject LCSH	House in the Woods — Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.) — History. Architecture — Pine Mountain Settlement School. Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.) — History. Harlan County (Ky.) — History. Historic Buildings — Kentucky — Appalachia. Rural schools — Kentucky — History. Schools — Appalachian Region, Southern.
Date Digital	2014-02-07
Publisher	Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY
Contributor	n/a
Type	Collections ; text ; image ;
Format	Original and copies of JPG images, documents, and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet
Source	Series 10: Built Environment (Physical Plant)
Language	English
Relation	Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 10: Built Environment (Physical Plant) ; Kentucky Virtual Library collections <http://www.kyvl.org/> [searchable] Berea College Southern Appalachian Archives <http://www.berea.edu/library/Special/saarchives.html> Transylvania College Archives <http://www.transy.edu/libspcoll.html> Univ. of KY Appalachian Archives <http://libraries.uky.edu/libpage.php?lweb_id=84&llib_id=13> National Historic Landmarks Database <http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1756&ResourceType=District>
Coverage Temporal	c. 1914 – late 1930s
Coverage Spatial	Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ;
Rights	Any display, publication, or public use must credit the Pine Mountain Settlement School. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor	n/a
Description	Core documents, correspondence, writings, and administrative papers about House in the Woods, the first classroom constructed at the campus of Pine Mountain Settlement School ; clippings, photographs, books about House in the Woods ;
Acquisition	Constructed c. 1914
Citation	Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers, Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY
Processed By	Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;
Last Updated	2014-02-07 hhw ; 2014-05-15 aae ; 2022-01-10 hhw ; 2023-04-05 aae ;
Bibliography	Source Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Archival material.

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BUILT ENVIRONMENT

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