Log Cabins

Back when Clarence was first founded everybody was building log cabins. The land had to be cleared and thus a ready supply of logs was available for the necessary shelter. Lumber mills would come later.

The top picture is of my great-great-grandparents' log cabin that existed down on Goodrich. Behind it is a house that used to be located on Wolcott. It took them 3 days to roll it on logs to it's current location (thanks to William Greene, current owner, for that info). In the picture you can see that it's still lacking a solid foundation. You could say that logs came in handy.

Much has been made of the Landow-Goodrich log cabin, now located in front of the Clarence Historical Museum. It's the best preserved example in it's original form. The Brace home on Main also has a log cabin embedded within, but it's not the only one in town.

At the corner of Wolcott and Goodrich there are 2 buildings across the street from one another that contain log cabins. The double structure on the right used to house a corner store. I think the cabin is under the larger building, as the History of the Town of Clarence says that August Meisner enlarged it by building around it first, then added a meeting place to the right later on. Clara Kanehl, who lived at the above mentioned house, later operated a store there.

Across the street there's a little white house behind the stop sign (currently owned by the Fitzners). That has a log cabin within it also. Another great great grandmother, Christina Faskel (she of the missing headstone - more on that later) used to live there.

Actually, if one were to browse through that intersection there's a treasure trove of history to be glimpsed. On the far right is a corner of the old German school. To the left of Fitzner's house is Frenchy's tavern (whatever it's called now), a very old mainstay. In it's parking lot is the first Clarence Center post office.

Also on that corner (of Delaware Road) is where the early immigrants used to have a picnic grove. The first carousal (made by Carl Landow and Carl Newman) operated there, earning at first scorn for it's frivolity, and later acceptance by the hard-working Germans.

I'm sure that there's many more log cabins out there, nestled within other buildings. They're a testament to solid workmanship and materials. People made do with what they had, and didn't let anything go to waste. We could learn from that.