Tatum Cabin

Introduction

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The Southern Appalachian Historical Association's Hickory Ridge Living History Museum is home to seven log structures dating from the 1770s to the 1930s. Each cabin is used to portray a particular part of life from the North Carolina Backcountry in the 18th Century. Every Tuesday through Saturday their are tours of these cabins given by Historical Interpreters in period attire.

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The Tatum Cabin

Backstory and Context

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The Tatum Cabin was built in 1775 in Todd North Carolina on the New River. It is believed that the cabin began its life as a garrison house for local militia forces. This theory came to be because of the fact that cabin had loop holes (a hole in a structure for a gun to be fired out of) on each wall. In 1785 Captain James Tatum bought the cabin for him and his family to live in. Tatum was a veteran of the American Revolutionary war and fought at the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780. At some point a loft was added to the cabin this was for the oldest of the ten Tatum children to sleep. The main floor consisted of a table and bed as well as a cradle for the youngest child. The main cabin was eventually added onto creating a large two-story cabin that was lived in by the Tatum family until 1935. In 1958 the cabin was donated to SAHA making it the first cabin to be moved to the site that would become Hickory Ridge Living History Museum.

Sources

Canipe, Steve. In the Evening West, Historical Reflections of the 60-year Tradition “Horn in the West 1952-2012. Southern Appalachian Historical Association, Boone, 2012.

“The Cabins of Hickory Ridge”. Southern Appalachian Historical Association, Boone, 2020, https://www.horninthewest.com/museum-cabins.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Dawn H. Osborne , “Tatum Cabin ,” The History of Horn in the West and Hickory Ridge Living History Museum , https://sahahistory.omeka.net/items/show/65.