Woodlynne Log Cabin

The Woodlynne Log Cabin, constructed 1938-39, was intended to be used by youth groups, notably the Boy Scouts. The cabin represents a significant portion of the population that promoted health through outdoor activities and community service organization participation, which they believed would grow and strengthen the nation, partly by reclaiming the American "frontier" spirit (as it was perceived and remembered). The log cabin also serves as a reminder of log cabin construction's fashionableness in national and state parks and city recreational centers. Their inexpensive designs also made them popular during the Great Depression as public works projects often included building log cabins in both the American West and eastern cities.  

Log Cabins emerged as a predominant form of frontier construction, notably as European pioneers moved across the U.S. and Canada. They mainly relied on Scandinavian mortise-and-tenon construction methods where tenons at the end of one log fit securely into the mortise (notch) of another log to form a corner. The bountiful forests of the frontier allowed the Scandinavian technique to manifest. In contrast, urban growth during the 1820s and 1830s resulted in a new form of balloon-frame construction, which required less lumber and used nails that were easily mass-produced in cities.  

With the emergence of balloon framing, log cabins fell out of favor in developed regions until the 1870s when a movement arose that sought to counter urban culture by fabricating camps located away from cities, such as in the Adirondack Mountains. Thus, a renewed love affair with the log cabin emerged, notably as camps used them for welcoming centers, housing, and administration buildings -- a trend that remained consistent through the 1930s and '40s. Public works projects arose during the Great Depression, leading to more parks and consequent log cabin construction, mainly competed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA). (For a little more than $40/month, WPA employees built bridges and roads, public buildings and airports, and public parks.) The inexpensive log cabins also made them popular in eastern cities, usually as part of local parks, community centers, or recreational complexes (by the 1930s, transporting lumber proved far more manageable than during the mid-nineteenth century). 

An example of the Great Depression, urban-centered log cabin construction exists with the Woodlynne Log Cabin. Though the cabin came to be known informally as "Scout Cabin," any youth organization (boys or girls) could use the structure, assuming most of its members resided in the Woodlynne borough. Still, in practice, the cabin ultimately served the entire community (all age groups). In 1973-74, the police used the Woodlynne Log Cabin as its headquarters during construction of Woodlynne Borough Hall. Since 1989, the Woodlynne's Borough Library has used the cabin as its home. 

The love affair with the log cabin has been a part of American culture for centuries. The Woodlynne Cabin provides a reminder to modern visitors when log cabins were not mere symbols but functional housing designs. The log cabin and its rustic nature came back into demand as city life grew more widespread after the Civil War; certain groups sought to reclaim that "frontier feeling" and enjoy better health by visiting camps and private or government parks. Finally, log cabins' prevalence in rural parks led to its reemergence in cities during the Great Depression as New Deal projects led to park construction in urban locations. 

Leighninger, Robert D. "Cultural Infrastructure: The Legacy of New Deal Public Space." Journal of Architectural Education 49, no. 4 (1996): 226-36. 

Sink, Donna. "Nomination Form: Woodlynne Log Cabin." National Register of Historic Places. nps.gov. August 21, 1997. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/7f3180c9-f00d-4697-a1f7-d1dbcf8df5ce

Sprague, Paul E. "The Origin of Balloon Framing." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 40, no. 4 (1981): 311-19. 

Steinberg, Ted. Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.