Trammel's Trace Cabin

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about this place, so take it straight from the source. Now, when you're rollin' through Harrison County and you spot a cabin built from hand-hewn logs, chinked tight with pipe clay, you're looking at something that was already old before 1842. Let that settle in a moment.

Before 1842. We're talking about logs that were shaped by hand, by ax and adze, before most of Texas was even a twinkle in a surveyor's eye. And whoever built this thing, they knew what they were doing.

They weren't just stacking timber and hoping for the best. They used butterfly mortising on the log ends, and tee-braces on the beams, details that speak to a builder who wanted this structure standing long after they were gone. Looks like they got their wish.

Now here's a detail that'll make you think. What you're seeing today is only part of the original story. This cabin was once one half of a two-pen dog-trot house, two rooms with an open breezeway running between them, a design as practical as a Texas summer demands.

At some point the two went their separate ways, and this pen, this survivor, is what remains. Then in 1938, Mr. and Mrs. Hobart Key, Jr. moved it to this very spot, giving it new ground to stand on.

Hand-hewn logs, pipe clay chinking, butterfly joints holding firm after all these years. Some things are just built to last.

What the marker says

Built before 1842. Hand-hewn logs, chinked with pipe clay. For strength has butterfly mortising on log ends and beams with tee-braces. Was part of a 2-pen dog-trot house. Moved here, 1938, by Mr. and Mrs. Hobart Key, Jr. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965