Throwback Thursday: Felts Log Cabin at Kentucky Museum

This week we’re at the Kentucky Museum on WKU’s campus in Bowling Green. Built in 1815, the Felts Log Cabin brings 200 years of southern Kentucky history to life. 

The log house was constructed by the Felts family around 1815. Archibald Felts and his wife Mary Weldon had 10 children. They lived just south of Bowling Green in Logan County. They were a wealthy family for their time, owning more than 800 acres near the Gasper River.

The Felts was a large family. The 1810 census showed there were 15 people living in the house. It’s said that a member of the Felts household lived in this log house for its first 150 years of existence. 

The cabin was originally built in Logan County. Its walls are hewn with poplar, oak, and walnut woods. This was the most common type of cabin found in this area during the early 19th century. The bottom floor is two pens separated by a breezeway, also called a dogtrot.

Over a thousand red oak shingles cover the roof. Logs are notched in a “v” shape in the corners of the house to hold the walls together.

The Felts log house was donated to WKU in 1978 and moved to its current location at the Kentucky Museum in 1980. Reproduction tools, furniture, and clothing inside the cabin are now used for educational opportunities.

Kids can even dress up in early settlers costumes while they watch cooking demonstrations on the cabin’s hearth and try the toys children used to play with 200 years ago. The Kentucky Museum is open for tours Tuesday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call ahead to ask about Felts log cabin access.