Piece by piece, officials with Hall County Parks and Leisure are rebuilding a historic log cabin home dating back to the 1840s as an educational tool for local children and tourist attraction.
The cabin, which once belonged to Col. James Roberts, was dismantled several years back by local residents who wanted to rescue it from being demolished as new development came. It has remained in storage at the Hall County Historical Society ever since.
It will be rebuilt at Cherokee Bluffs Park.
“Cherokee Bluffs is a celebration of South Hall’s history,” said Hall County Parks and Leisure Director Mike Little. “Not only is it a draw for tourism … but also for our school-age children to be able to visit the site and get reacquainted with the culture of our past.”
Little said work had recently begun on the cabin.
“We have unloaded it and are currently cataloging the logs,” Little said. “We will then reload it in a tractor trailer in the order it needs to be unloaded for assembly.”
Originally Roberts’ home, the original log house was located in an area of South Hall at the intersection of Hog Mountain and Friendship roads. Plans to widen the intersection threatened to demolish it, but the Hall County Historical Society had the state’s historic preservation section intervene, and the house survived, although in pieces.
The Hall County Board of Commissioners voted in 2014 to rebuild the historic home at the park, which opened in November 2015.
“Our hope is that the rebuilt cabin will serve as an educational opportunity for children to visit on field trips and for the community at large to see and learn about this area’s history,” said Kathy Cooper, a Hall County Commissioner whose district includes the South Hall area.
It will be the latest addition to the 168-acre park located along Blackjack Road in Flowery Branch near the Sterling on the Lake subdivision. The park also includes trails, a 2,500-square-foot community building and a 400-seat amphitheater.
Former Times Editor Johnny Vardeman contributed to this report.