| History of The Homestead Cabins |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| The Collard House The front cabin at The Homestead on 19th was built in 1834 by German immigrant and Texas Revolution soldier Lemuel Collard. The house was built on a 4,428-acre land grant in south Walker County, just north of the current town of New Waverly. During the first year in their new home, Collard and his wife, Elizabeth Lindley Collard, lived in what is now the west room of the front cabin. The main downstairs room was apparently divided into two areas, a parlor and a sleeping space, with an L-shaped stairway that led to a loft that would later serve as sleeping quarters for their 13 children. The 10-foot covered porch on the front of the cabin was balanced by a shed, which served as a storeroom and kitchen, on the back. |
In 1846, the Collards sold the house and 200 acres to H.C Hoskins for $300, and the cabin saw several owners before its relocation. In 1904 the cabin was extensively remodeled, and was enlarged again in 1920 with the addition of a large kitchen wing. At that time the cabin also was resided with "modern" 117 board siding. In 1979, owner H.T. Abbey, who had built a modern brick home beside the old Collard cabin, began tearing down the structure to salvage the old wood, unaware that he was uncovering an historic log structure. When Abbey discovered the original log walls of the building, he stopped his demolition and contacted the Walker County Historical Commission in order to learn the history of the home. He also made the decision to sell the structure to someone who might be interested in moving and restoring the historic home. Walker County preservationist George Russell purchased the Collard's homestead cabin in 1980 and relocated it to its beautiful park side setting on 19th Street in Huntsville, across the street from General Sam Houston's Woodland Home and the Sam Houston Memorial Museum and Park. It took four long years and extensive research to restore the home to its original condition. Bricks and stones from the two chimneys were hand numbered before being disassembled at the site, and original materials were used wherever possible in reconstruction. |
| The Dunlap Cabin |
The small one-room cabin at the back of the property was built sometime in the 1870s and came from the Dunlap plantation close to Cincinnati, Texas, (in the Kittrell area of Walker County) on the Trinity River. James Dunlap, a wealthy citizen and business owner, built a large main house on the property and 14 double-penned, dog-trot log cabins. In 1853, a devastating yellow-fever epidemic reportedly took the lives of half the population of Cincinnati, and over the course of the next 30 to 35 years, the plantation was abandoned, along with the town. By 1889, the plantation had fallen into ruin, and one by one, the log buildings began to disappear. The cabin was apparently occupied for some time after 1889, as renovations were made to the structure around this time. The original cabin boasted an eight-foot wide porch, which ran the length of the front, with a dog-trot hall occupying the space between two log rooms, just like the Collard house. There were two rooms on the back porch. There was no upstairs. Logs were split and planed to give the inside walls a more finished appearance. Floor and ceiling joists also were made of pine logs, but the rafters in the roof were made of rough-sawn two-by-fours. The chimneys were constructed of mud and sticks. The surviving room of the cabin appears to have been used mainly for storage before 1889, as the logs of this room were not originally chinked. Around 1899, the space between the logs was apparently filled, and the exterior of the structure covered with board and batten siding. A wooden fireplace mantel was added to the room as well. |
By the late 1960s, all that remained of the plantation was the main house and the little log cabin. After the main house burned in 1968, the little cabin took a place of distinction as sole reminder of the legacy of the Dunlap family. In 1983, the Dunlap heirs, in an attempt to save the cabin, offered it for sale to someone who would preserve and restore it, and George Russell, Huntsville resident and preservationist, took on the task of moving the cabin to its current site. Like the Collard house, the move and restoration of the Dunlap cabin was a long and exacting process. The logs were hand numbered before dismantling began, and the little room was rebuilt on its current site log by log and board by board. The Kitchen The stately, white board house on the southeast corner of the property was built in the 1870s in Willis, Texas, and was moved its current site by George Russell in the early 1980s. The house was designed in the style of Confederate President Jefferson Davis's home, but little else is known of its origins. The Collard and Dunlap cabins have been home to The Homestead on 19th restaurant since October 1995. The two cabins are among only three Walker County log structures known to have survived into modern times and as such are the oldest surviving homes in the county. The cabin interiors are not open for tour during the day, but visitors are welcome to tour the grounds and view the exterior of the compound at any time. Visitors to the restaurant are welcome to tour the cabin interiors during regular business hours. |
| The homestead cabin was built of hand-hewn, square-notched pine logs, and the original chimney on the east wall was probably a "cat chimney," fashioned from mud and sticks. The floors and roof of the cabin were covered with rived boards, and cracks in the walls between the logs were covered with wood board "chinking," inside and out, and were apparently whitewashed. Remnants of the original white paint are still visible on areas of the exterior. Additional mud was applied to the east wall of the cabin for insulation. In 1835, the Collards began extensive renovations to the cabin. A 10-foot wide central hall, or dog-trot, was added to the west side of the cabin, as well as a second log room. The front porch and back "shed" were expanded across the length of the new structure, and the wood "chinking" on the first cabin was torn off and replaced with clapboard siding. The original "cat chimney" was removed, and two new brick chimneys were added, giving the house a new start as a graceful Southern home. |