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Sylvest House: example of dog trot log cabin

Courtesy of the Capital Resource Conservation and Development Council
{photo2} Rear view of historic site
{courtesy2}

The Sylvest House, once located in Fisher, Louisiana, has been moved to the rural, wooded setting of the Washington Parish fairgrounds in Franklinton. While modest in design, this late 19th-century example of a dog trot log cabin is constructed of small and medium sized round logs with saddle-notches at their corners. Built in 1880 by farmer Nehemiah Sylvest, the Sylvest House stood as the home of the Sylvest family and is considered an excellent representative of the local history of Washington County because of its simplistic style and design. While other parishes had been adequately explored and settled Washington Parish at the time was at best frontier-like. Washington Parish was the center of a vast wilderness area and remained largely uncultivated until 1900. Local historian Daunton Gibbs wrote, in A Brief History of Washington Parish, "Most of the land owners were stock raisers with a few acres of land in cultivation." Therefore crude log cabins seem to have been typical of the time and place. The house itself has an early 20th-century kitchen attached to the back of the rear gallery.

Ultimately the Sylvests had 12 children. According to the 1880 federal census, Sylvest was a 35-year-old farmer. His wife Lenora, then 25 years old, was listed as "keeping house." They had been born in Louisiana, and both of their fathers had come from Portugal. The 1880 Agriculture Census provides detailed information concerning Sylvest's farm as of that date. He owned a total of 160 acres, of which 15 were under cultivation. The value of his farm, including land, fences, and buildings, was $400. His livestock consisted mainly of 25 swine and 15 barnyard poultry. Not much additional information is available on the Sylvests. Like most of the rest of the 1890 census, the data on Washington Parish was destroyed. As of 1900, there were eight children, ranging in age from three to 18, living in the household with the parents. Since the Agriculture Census data for 1900 was destroyed, there is no information available on the farm as of that time.

The Sylvest House is located at the Washington Parish Fairgrounds in Franklinton. It is open for events and by appointment only for groups. Contact the Washington Parish Tourism Commission at 985-735-5731 for further information.

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