Well we couldn't just drive all the way back to Greenbrier County to core one structure, now could we?! After finishing up McCoy Fort, Shawn and I (not feeling nearly as worn out as usual) decided to revisit one of the structures we toured on our first trip - Keeney Cabin. Remember this cabin?
What about this cute dog? Surely, he'll jog your memory!
We couldn't stop thinking about Keeney Cabin after we left Greenbrier County the first time, so we asked Dan and Diana, the owners of the cabin, if we could come back and they said sure thing! The reason why we were so excited about dating Keeney Cabin is because it has two potential histories. It is either the Lewis Cabin, constructed in the late 1700s and moved to the current site sometime later, or its the Keeney Cabin and it dates to the early 1800s. Of course no one knows which one it is, but the histories associated with each family are quite different and thus the significance of the cabin would be different depending on the construction date. The photograph below, taken around 1914, shows Keeney Cabin (bottom left) in its current location.
The one room log cabin has steeple notching, which usually places the construction date around the late 1700s in this area; however, it is still possible that the cabin was built in the early 1800s.
It was converted into a garage in the early-to-mid 1900's to store the previous owner's 1931 Model T convertible pick up truck (for all of you antique car enthusiasts).
I imagine by now you know what we came to do. This time we put Dan to work too. Dan collected the longest archaeological core of the project. And the longest one I've ever seen. Pretty impressive, Dan! Looking for a job?
Then we got a surprise visit from Drs. Stephen and Kim McBride, archaeologists from the University of Kentucky. They happened to be in the area working on a project and, being good friends of Dan and Diana, they stopped by to hang out! So we put Stephen to work too....
We collected 25 great cores from Keeney Cabin that day. The only thing that could have topped it was if Woody caught a squirrel. Well, guess what? He did! I didn't get any pictures to show you, but you probably wouldn't want to see them anyway. He was sooo proud of his catch. He and his new (dead) squirrel friend went everywhere together that day. It was a great end to a great day! Maybe not so much for the squirrel though...
We owe a great big thank you to Dan and Diana for letting us work/play at Keeney Cabin, for providing a delicious lunch from Alderson Green Grocer (if you're ever in the area), and for bringing us a generator to keep the drills going. We really enjoyed working with you and can't wait to share our results!
We owe a great big thank you to Dan and Diana for letting us work/play at Keeney Cabin, for providing a delicious lunch from Alderson Green Grocer (if you're ever in the area), and for bringing us a generator to keep the drills going. We really enjoyed working with you and can't wait to share our results!