News

Stunning Vintage Photographs: Houses Carved Within Enormous Tree Stumps, 1880s-1920s

When settlers headed to the Pacific Northwest, they were forced to improvise dwellings and start their lives from scratch.

Finding the stumps of gigantic trees that had been felled by logging companies still rooted in the ground, they saw a great opportunity.

Many of these huge stumps stood a full 10 feet high but were undesirable as lumber because they tended to swell down toward their base, making the wood grain uneven.

For select stumps, the newly arrived farmers found other uses. A few of the largest were leveled off and fashioned into platforms where “stump dances” were held to the driving tones of fiddles and mandolins. But another use for stumps would be discovered.

By constructing roofs on them, and attaching a door or gate, the stump-based shelters worked fine as storage sheds or chicken houses, or pens to keep pigs and calves safe from prowling predators including raccoons, bobcats, or bears. And sometimes it was people who lived inside these stump houses.

Some tree stump houses had two or even three stories and were equipped with everything a family home needed, with space to cook, sleep, and store their belongings.

Winter was probably the scariest period to spend in a stump house because severe weather hits the North Pacific during those months, with super low temperatures and snow sometimes persisting for days and months.

The Stump House on the Lennstrom farm near Edgecomb, Washington, 1905.

The Stump House on the Lennstrom farm near Edgecomb, Washington was a great curiosity in the early 1900s. Built by immigrant brothers, Gustav Lennstrom and Johan Westerlund, the house was widely photographed.

It appeared on postcards and even souvenir china. Edgecomb was a logging area, between the Snohomish County towns of Marysville and Arlington.

The giant size of the stump gives a good idea of the size of the old growth trees. Twenty-two feet in diameter, it was home to 3 adults and 3 children until a house was built for Gustav, his wife, Brita, and their three children.

Regrettably, Calvin Cornehl, who was 4 when he moved into the home with his family in 1938, reports that the house was damaged beyond repair in 1946 during an attempt to move it for donation to the city of Arlington.

On the “Redwood Highway”. (Photo by Bob Doran via Flickr).

The Stump House in Porterville, California.

Interior of the house built on the Original Big Tree Stump, Calaveras County, c. 1866.

The Stump House in Eureka, California, 1950s. (Photo by LarrynJill via Flickr).

Stump House in Eureka, California. (Photo by Smaddy via Flickr).

Stump House in Eureka, California. (Photo by William Bird via Flickr).

Pioneer’s Cabin, 318 ft. high, 75 ft. cir. California, Mammoth Grove. 1870s.

The Wawona Tree, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite, California, 1897. Felled during a storm in 1969.

Children in front of stump house, ca. 1900.

Transporting logs as giant rafts.

Pacific Highway through a Washington red cedar stump, 20 feet in diameter.

Related Posts

Trump and Musk send MAGA world wild with powerful duet of God Bless America at Mar-a-Lago – with a glaring problem

Donald Trump and Elon Musk looked more like Simon and Garfunkel at Mar-a-Lago during a rendition of God Bless America – but fans spotted one minor problem. The duo returned to a hero’s welcome at the ‘Winter White House’ Wednesday night after Trump had a friendly chat with the Bidens in D.C. and joked he can’t get rid of his billionaire ‘first buddy.’ Conservatives were thrilled to see them alongside opera singer Chris Macchio for a rendition of the American classic.

‘UFOs are real’: Congress to hear Pentagon whistleblower’s bombshell testimony at major ‘alien’ hearing TODAY

A PENTAGON whistleblower who claims UFOs are real is set to present his bombshell testimony at a major “alien“ hearing today before the US Congress. Former counterintelligence officer Luis Elizondo, who is said to have investigated UFO cases while at the Department of Defence, claims America is in “possession of UAP technologies“. The former defence official will speak before The US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

Furious woman whose daughter was ‘given detention for wearing a poppy pin on Remembrance Day’ blasts school’s punishment as ridiculous

A furious mother has claimed that her daughter was given a detention for wearing a poppy pin on Remembrance Day. The parent said she was angered that her child was punished for trying to commemorate and honour those who served and sacrificed in the war. As Britain came together to mark Armistice Day on November 11, the mother was shocked to receive a text from her youngster saying she had been handed a detention for wearing a poppy pin.

Everyone can see the autumn scene – but you have a high IQ & 20/20 vision if you find the sneaky dogs in 12 seconds

THIS is the brainteaser to get you in the Autumn mood, as you’re challenged to find the hidden dogs amongst the golden leaves. Everyone can see the people gathering up leaves that have fallen from the trees, but only those with 20/20 vision and a high IQ can spot the sneaky dogs in 12 seconds. The teaser from Vape Globe will remind you of the last time you saw a really crunchable leaf on the pavement and had no choice but to step on it.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper opens show with five words he ‘never contemplated using’ after Trump’s shock Cabinet picks

Jake Tapper was absolutely dumbfounded beginning his show Wednesday after Donald Trump nominated Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General. Trump named the controversial Florida Congressman as his nominee in a move that is bound to outrage Democrats and even shock many Republicans in Washington. Perhaps expressing that outrage, Tapper began his show in utter awe of the nomination.

Frankenstein scientists create flocks of creepy zombie drones out of DEAD BIRDS in haunting spy experiments

ZOMBIE duck drones have been made by scientists using eerie flocks of dead birds in a haunting set of spy experiments. Clever biomimetic roboticists at New Mexico Tech have miraculously discovered a way to use deceased animal parts to create realistic flying and swimming impostors. The Frankenstein scientists believe that the taxidermy bird drones will be able to help wildlife in a natural way by blending into a natural environment and sending information back to research centres.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *