File:First pen Carnes Cabin 4201.jpg

The Carnes Cabin, c. 1828 "[T]he John Thomas Carnes Cabin is one of the oldest dwellings in the greater [Atlanta] metropolitan area . . . "John Thomas Carnes was ... one of the early white settlers of Douglas County. . . He purchased the property which is now Clinton Nature Preserve for $150 during one of the land lotteries in West Georgia. "His family log house is a fairly typical 'dog-trot' cabin. The Cabin is lifted off the ground with rock piles, there is a steep roof and a deep porch. There is a stacked stone chimney at the end of the original room or 'pen,' which also has a sleeping loft. Originally instead of stairs, there would have been a simple ladder. "Between the first pen and the second is the 'dog-trot' or breezeway, and the second room makes this a 'double-pen dog-trot cabin.' . . . "The walls are made of hand-hewn logs, probably white pine, which are tightly notched at the corners but with space left between the logs. In winter clay, moss, small pieces of wood and stones filled the gaps. This is called 'chinking.' These materials were knocked out in the summer to ventilate the cabin. "The roof is now metal, but the settlers would have used shingles or 'shakes.' If they lacked the skilled or tools to split shingles, they covered the roof with pieces of tree bark. ... "Settlers often built their cabins facing east, so the morning sun warmed the front door. Many placed them at the bottom of hills or ridges, protected from the wind and snow. Others located their homesteads near creeks and trails" from information sheet given at Clinton Nature Preserve