DOCTORS Cabin

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 10: BUILT ENVIRONMENT (Physical Plant)
Doctor’s Cabin (“Little Log”), 19?? – 1980s

DOCTORS Cabin

Doctor’s Cabin (“Little Log”). Source: Marian Kingman Album. [kingman004mod1.jpg]

TAGS: Doctor’s Cabin, Little Log, The Cabin, Martha Burns, dairy, doctors, staff residences, log cabins, architectural removals, John Spelman III

Doctor’s Cabin (“Little Log”), 19?? – 1980s

The Doctor’s Cabin (“Little Log”), or simply “The Cabin,” was located on the steep slope below Farm House and above the swimming pool area. It was a very small and rustic cabin that was constructed on top of large boulders. Possibly constructed at the request of Katherine Pettit for Mrs. Martha Burns, the dairy farmer who came to Pine Mountain to supervise the early dairy herd. Little history of the cabin’s origin appears in the early Pine Mountain record.

While the origin and early history of “The Cabin” is vague, it’s later history has a scattered record of notoriety. It served as a residence for a number of staff, including other dairy managers, doctors who worked for the School at the Infirmary,  just up the hill, and instructors, such as artist, John Spelman III.  Rustic and lacking in many basic amenities, it was a popular residence before it became uninhabitable. One of its central attractions was that the occupants could generally risk a sereptitious smoke in the building, when it was banned across the institution. The most difficult obstacle for residents was protecting their personal belongings from the pack rats, snakes, and flying squirrels that frequently cohabited with them due to the many gaps in the small, round logs that comprised the structure. Handmade soap, in particular, was often a disappearing item.  

Crudely constructed, it eventually deteriorated to the degree that it was removed in the 1980s. All that remains of the structure are several stone foundations and the stone cabin steps mingled with the large boulders that once supported the structure.

"Little Log, c. 1933." [neff_vennie_002x]

“Little Log” aka “Doctor’s Cabin”, c. 1933. [neff_vennie_002x]

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 BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Title

Doctor’s Cabin (“Little Log”)

Alt. Title

The Cabin

Identifier

DOCTOR’S CABIN (“Little Log”)

Creator

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY

Alt. Creator

Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;

Subject Keyword

Doctor’s Cabin ; Little Log ; The Cabin ; Pine Mountain Settlement School ; Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ; Farm House ; boulders ; swimming pool ; Mrs. Martha Burns ; dairy farmers ; Ayrshire dairy herd ; staff residences ; doctors ; Infirmary ; stone foundations ; stone steps ;

Subject LCSH

Doctor’s Cabin (“Little Log”)– 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

2013-09-30

Publisher

Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY

Contributor

n/a

Type

Collections ; text ; image ;

Format

Original and copies of 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

19?? – 1980s

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 the Doctor’s Cabin (“Little Log”) ; clippings, photographs, books about the Doctor’s Cabin (“Little Log”) ;

Acquisition

Constructed 19??

Citation

“[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY

Processed By

Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;

Last Updated

2013-09-30 hhw ; 2014-05-14 aae ; 2026-01-08 hhw

Bibliography

Source

Doctor’s Cabin (“Little Log”). Series 10: Built Environment (Physical Plant). Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Archival material.

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