The Templeton-Drake Log House


House Exterior Templeton-Drake Log House 1993
This log house, originally constructed ca. 1763, was located on the Henry Templeton plat of Boonesborough Township, Abbeville District, South Carolina. Drakes owned the house from at least the early 1800's through the 1980's. In 1984 Lee and Jean Andrews bought the property and owned the house until it was sold in the mid-1990's. The house was dismantled and moved to northeast Georgia. By 1999 the owner offered the dismantled pieces to the Boonesborough Historical Society. Jane Byrd Wilson was instrumental in returning the logs to their home area. Since Jane's death in March of 2000 the Boonesborough Historical Society has committed to restoring the log house on a Donalds SC site a few miles from the original location.




House Interior House Interior 1993 - Second Floor
The log house measured 18' by 25' and consisted of two storeys. Log types used were a mix of pine, oak and chestnut. On the first floor 8" wide floorboards ran the entire length of the house and appeared to be cut with pit saws. The first floor front was panelled with tongue and groove pine boards. The interior of the house had been whitewashed. Rafters and floorboards, in good condition, were constructed of pine. Two original doors constructed of vertical pineboards were equipped with thumb latches and forged hinges. The second floor was a large sleeping loft without fireplace. Second floor floorboards were approximately 10" wide and also ran lengthwise. Second floor windows were cut later. By 1991 the chimney was missing. An original log kitchen, long since gone, stood to the left of the house, possibly connected by a breezeway at one time. Stone piers supported the house.

1991 house description notes and 1993 photographs provided by Tim Drake.


Boonesborough Historical Society
Donalds, South Carolina
Email: Boonesborough Historical Society