Koneschik Log Kitchen and Boecker Smokehouse

The Koneschik Log Kitchen was originally a house built in about 1875 on land between Industry and Shelby in Austin County, about 10 miles from present-day Winedale. It is a single-pen Post Oak log structure that represents the twilight of log cabin construction in the late 1800s. Miss Ima Hogg purchased the cabin from the Giese family in 1966 and relocated it to Winedale to serve as a demonstration kitchen for the Lewis-Wagner House.

The present smokehouse is a typical single-room log building of the mid-nineteenth-century Texas. It was the home of German immigrant August Boecker in 1866. The cabin was located near the Welcome community in Austin County, about 14.5 miles from present-day Winedale. The Bybees purchased the cabin from the Giese family in 1966 and donated it to Winedale, where it was rehabilitated to represent the Lewis-Wagner farmstead's lost smokehouse.

Both structures feature half dovetail notches formed by interlocking pieces. Half dovetails are more common historically and have the advantage of draining water better than a full dovetail notch since the angle allows water to flow away from the structure.

Brisco Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin