ABOUT THE FARMSTEAD

The farmstead is composed of a dog-trot house, detached kitchen, cellar house, blacksmith shop, feed shed, animal barn, outhouse, a small family cemetery, a herb garden, a vegetable garden and a crop field.

The Dog-Trot House
This "dog-trot" house (two log rooms separated by an open breezeway but connected by a common roof) was built in the winter of 1845-46 near what is today Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The building was expanded during the 1850s, when two rooms were attached to the back and a second story was added. The house is actually a log cabin that has been covered with clapboard siding, an "improvement" that was made as the owner became more prosperous and could afford commercially milled wood. Two types of notching are found on the logs; the lower story is half-dovetail, a style commonly used in the upper South, while the upper story is the simpler square-notch, commonly used in the lower South. The house has had several owners, the most notable being Richard M. Gano, who purchased the house in 1856.

General Richard Montgomery Gano

Mattie Gano

The Detached Kitchen
The half-dovetail notched logs in this cabin came from a cabin built in southeast Cook County near the Bloomfields Community. The dirt floor, exposed rafters, and small windows are typical of detached kitchens found in the North Central Texas region in the mid-nineteenth century. Early settlers often used a separate structure for cooking to eliminate the heat, smells, smoke, and fire danger from their living quarters.

The Blacksmith Shop
Housed in the shop is a working forge, complete with a leather hand-pump bellows. Many of the metal items in use at the farm were forged here.

The Vegetable Garden
Many heritage varieties of vegetables are grown in our garden

The Cellar House
In the summer of 1999 Nathan Langfitt of Troop 876 built an 1860's cellar house for the farmstead. To see pictures of the construction visit the Eagle Scout Cellar House Project Page

Return to 1860s Farm Page
About the Farmstead • Meet Our Livestock • Meet Our Interpreters • The Year is 1861

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Site last updated 02/22/2005

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