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Show The Survey's Findings 29 gabled, have the door in the narrow end, and are often built of railroad ties. Chicken coops are generally log or tie buildings with shed roofs, while root cellars are subterranean and have dirt roofs. Animal shelters often consist merely of hole-set poles supporting low-pitched dirt roofs. Other outbuildings are generally of frame or railroad ties, except for the metal silos that postdate 1940. The percentages of buildings in terms of their principal construction material are listed below. Siding prevented the determination of material in 7 percent of the cases. Wood Percent Frame 35 Log 31 Railroad tie 20 Total wood 86 6 1 Masonry Stone Brick Total masonry 7 During the initial settlement period from 1875-1900, buildings were typically constructed of log. The tree primarily used was "pine," the local name for Douglas fir, and timbers had to be dragged from Pine Creek Canyon to the east. The logs were stacked horizontally and the gaps between them chinked with boards and mud. They were typically joined with a saddle notch, although there are some square- and V-notched examples. In the period from 1900 to 1920, brick, stone, and frame generally replaced log as a building material. Saw mills were constructed in Pine Creek Canyon during the period, but the community never had a planing mill. Finished lumber had to be shipped in from the railroad towns of Lucin or Tecoma to the south. The first frame house was built for Charles Kimber in 1905 (site 40). Gray sandstone from a quarry just west of the center of town was used in the construction of five houses (sites 19, 33, 48, OGC 22, and OGC 28), the Latter-day Saint tithing granary (site 21), two schools (sites 30 and OGC 25), and the second Latter-day Saint meetinghouse, now demolished. Two brick houses (sites 6 and 22) were built of locally produced brick around 1905. Railroad ties became an important building material during the 1920s after the Southern Pacific rail line was rerouted across the Great Salt Lake and the old tracks north of the lake were torn out and given away or sold very cheaply. Ties, stacked in rows and spiked at the butted corners, were commonly used in outbuildings, but several houses (sites 7, 32, 36, and 60) were also built of this scavenged material. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of early Grouse Creek architecture is what is locally called the "dirt roof" (sites 50, 52, and OGC 20). Dirt roofs are found on all early buildings and were still being used on new buildings as late as the 1920s. Dirt roofs con-v- i J V 77 I William Shaw house, site 50. Shaw was born in England and probably built this house during the 1880s. It has a triple-cell floorplan and the photograph of the east elevation shows the heavy purlins typical of early log buildings in Grouse Creek. (Photograph: Tom Carter; GCCS TCB-25591/32. Floorplan: Roger Roper.) Phillip Paskett house, site 14. Paskett, an immigrant from England, was a member of the original party of settlers in Grouse Creek. This hall-parlor structure replaced a one-room log house. (Photograph: Tom Carter; GCCS TCB-25558/28. Floorplan: Roger Roper.) |