Turner-Peters Log Cabin

Turner-Peters Log Cabin. Boonville. , Though it's called a cabin, the Turner-Peters Dogtrot was house and home during the 1800s to early settlers. For over 160 years, the homestead was situated atop a sandy hill overlooking a small branch of Peach Creek in Grimes County. Thanks to restoration efforts, it has become a featured educational experience and living history landmark in the Boonville Heritage Park - some 30 miles on the same roadway from its original site., The dogtrot home is in excellent condition, one of the best to be found in Texas in recent years and typical of southern "pioneer style" architecture. The red cedar dwelling consists of two "cribs" or cabins, each approximately 20'x20' constructed with horizontally laid, notched hewn logs separated by a 10 foot-wide “dogtrot.” Typically the dogtrot breezeway served as a covered place of safety for playing children; kept provisions and firewood kindling close at hand; and during the hot summer months, meals were served there to take advantage of the breeze and shade. A dogtrot was sometimes closed in on both ends as space was needed for an expanding family. Although the cabin is approximately 90 percent original, the hearth and chimney have been reconstructed from materials from the original site. The replaced logs on the east and west walls are of red cedar and specific to the period., The story of this log dwelling began far to the east in Alabama. David Turner was born near Raleigh, North Carolina at the beginning of the 1800s. As a young man and a veteran, he settled in Alabama, established a prosperous farm, and raised his family near Greenville. But rumors from the west persisted: fertile vast tracts of land available at good prices - in a fabled country once part of Spain and Mexico and recently, a republic. By 1845, Texas had become the 28th state. Though sparsely populated with settlers, Texas was home to the legendary heroes of the Alamo, Gonzales, and San Jacinto. David Turner settled his affairs and joined the "Gone to Texas" migration. After the Civil War, David Turner's kin and many others journeyed to rich bottomlands of Texas. They were self-reliant pioneer farmers lured by reports of excellent water, good soil, and abundant fish and game. From those bygone days, a first home has remained as a reminder of a great adventure and a tribute to self-sufficiency. In 1937 the family of Marshall Peters purchased the land from Turner heirs and another era of use for the old homestead began. In 1945 it was sold to his brother, Douglas Peters. The fallow fields were used to run cattle and the still sturdy house of logs becase a hunting cabin and overnight sleepovers for cattle roundups and fall hunts. , The Peters family sold the acreage and dogtrot cabin to Texas Municipal Power Agency (TMPA) in 1989. Thanks to TMPA's excellent care, which included assessment, preservation, and stabilization, as well as a historical assessment by Texas A&M's College of Architecture; the cabin remained safe for 25 years. The Mine, Land, and Environmental Manager of TMPA, with support and guidance from his Board, applied to the Texas Historical Commission for release of guardianship and permission to donate the cabin. THC's approval, TMPA's donation, and the unanimous approval by the Brazos County Commissioners Court for the cabin's placement in the Boonville Heritage Park; all culminated in February of 2014. Collateral descendants of the Turner and the Peters families helped open a new chapter of the story of the Turner-Peters Log Cabin. , - Narrative courtesy Stephanie Sale, Captions , The long-awaited time of disassembly of the 1856 Turner-Peters Dogtrot began in March 2014. At the end of four grueling days, the remainder was neatly assembled, banded into bundles of like items including wall logs, roof rafters, floor joists, and flooring, separated into two large trailer loads and hauled to Heritage Restoration in Waco for treatment and reassembly; adding acquired replacement red cedar logs and other lumber were added as needed., With guidance from the staff of the Star of the Republic Museum at Washington-on-the Brazos, acquisition of furnishings for a mid-1800's settler's log home was undertaken. In addition, the Brazos Valley Master Gardener Association graciously accepted responsibility for planning an early Texas yard and garden