The Backwoods Cabin is typical of the type of structure the Scots-Irish settler would have built upon first arriving in the area. Constructed of readily available natural materials, the cabin was meant to be a temporary structure until the settler and his family established themselves and could build a more permanent structure. The cabin is of log construction with mud used as chinking between the logs. After the bark was removed, the round logs were simply and quickly notched at the ends in a V-notch* pattern so they would fit together. The Scots-Irish did not build log cabins in their native lands as materials for constructing them were not abundantly available there. It is believed that the techniques used in constructing them were learned from German, Swiss, and Swedish immigrants who were arriving in America at the same time the Scots-Irish were arriving.
* V-notch:Though there are many ways of joining logs at the corner for the construction of cabins, the simplest style was the V-notch. The Scots-Irish used the V-notch because it was faster and required less construction time, enabling them to quickly provide shelter in a hostile wilderness.
