Nothnagle Log Cabin is the oldest log house in North America and the second oldest wooden house in the United States. It was built between 1638 and 1643 by the Finnish settlers of the New Sweden colony. The colony was founded by the Swedish Crown in 1638. (Those days Finland was a part of the Swedish kingdom.) The settlers were mainly Finns, more precisely Savonians, who were called the "Forest Finns". They had moved from Savonia in Eastern and Central Finland to the forest areas of Central Sweden during the 16th and early 17th century. Then they were forced to move to America by the Swedish Crown. In the 1650s more than 50% of the New Sweden's population were Finns.
Nothnagle Log Cabin represents typical old Savonian architecture and building technique. The logs were double dovetailed to provide a close fit, and gravel was pounded between the chinks in the logs. No nails were used, hardwood pegs were used as fasteners. There is no ridgepole in the roof. The fireplace was built of bricks brought from Sweden. The greatest contribution of the Finns to the development of the New World is this Finnish forest house building technique. Swedish, Scottish, Irish, English, Dutch and German settlers learned the technique from the Forest Finns.
Morton Homestead (above) was John Morton's home. John Morton (1724-1777), a US founding father, cast the decisive vote for the US independence. He was a great-grandson of Martti Marttinen, a native of Rautalampi, North Savonia, Finland. The oldest part of the main building was built in 1654. An adjacent building of similar design was constructed in 1698. Morton Homestead is located just about 12 miles from Philadelphia. Tervajärvi Homestead (below) is located in Sumsa Village, Sotkamo, Kainuu region, Northern Finland. Tervajärvi (literally "Tar Lake") Homestead was founded in the middle of the 18th century. The main building is a museum nowadays. Both buildings are fine examples of the old Savonian style log house building technique and architecture.
A lifelong Idahoan and preservationist in Long Valley, Frank W. Eld, has written one of the best books about Finnish log house building technique in the US: "Finnish Log Construction -The Art: The Story of Finnish Log Construction in America". Frank has worked more than 40 years in museum and preservation work focusing on the restoration and preservation of Finnish log structures in America. The book covers not only the early history of the first American log cabins built by the Finnish settlers of the New Sweden colony in the 1630s, but goes into a fair amount of detail on the defining characteristics and unique building methods used. The book is richly illustrated with dozens of photographs of the houses, saunas and barns built across the US as well as examples of comparable structures in Finland. There is also a section on the non-Finnish log house and how it differs from those constructed by Finns. The book tells how the Savonian style log cabin became a symbol of the American pioneering spirit and an icon of the American frontier, and how it conquered the West.
