Noah “Bud” Ogle Cabin

This is the Noah “Bud” Ogle Cabin, near Gatlinburg Tennessee on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.

It is actually two cabins with a shared chimney, called a Saddlebag Cabin, like a saddlebag that goes over a horse. (The reconstructed Abraham Lincoln cabin at Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site is also a saddlebag style log cabin.)

There is a passageway between the two attached cabins.

The first cabin was built when Ogle first settled the area. The second cabin was added about five years later to accommodate the growing family.

This was a very common way to build log cabins. The size, about 18’, was the size that was as big as men could carry a massive log. You can imagine how heavy each of those logs would be.

Long porches run along the front and back of the cabin.

Together both cabins together add up to 18’ x 20’. There are low second stories accessible by a ladder through a cut-out in the ceiling.

The walls are made of hewn logs. The logs are notched, half-dovetailed to fit together.

There are six doors; a front and back door to each room and doors opening into the center between the two attached cabins.

The roof is shingled with oak splits.

The fireplace has a massive stone hearth with rubble surrounds. The floor is made of sawn boards.

When the cabin was first built, there were no glass windows. Any opening had a wooden shutter to close out the cold. Later, as the family prospered, they could afford glass panes.