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206 H o u se -ty p e A f f i n i t i e s Between t h e Mormon West and E a s t e r n American F o lk House R egions A l l n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Mormon f o l k h o u s e s a r e p a t t e r n e d a f t e r house ty p e s once common i n E a s t e r n A m erica. But th e E a s t i s a c t u a l l y made up o f s e v e r a l d i s s i m i l a r f o l k h o u sin g r e g i o n s ; t h u s , t h e Mormon West b e a r s g r e a t e r re s e m b la n c e t o some e a s t e r n r e g i o n s t h a n t o o t h e r s . The m ajo r f o l k h o u s in g r e g i o n s e v o lv e d from c o l o n i a l c e n t e r s where s o u t h e r n New E n g la n d , s o u t h e a s t e r n P e n n s y l v a n i a , and T id e w a te r V i r g i n i a formed t h r e e s e p a r a t e h e a r t h s o r s o u r c e a r e a s from which f o l k i d e a s s p r e a d outw ard t o th e West and South t o form a t l e a s t t h r e e m a jo r c u l t u r e r e g i o n s ( K n i f f e n , 1965, 560; G l a s s i e , 1968, 3 3 - ? 9 ) . Each h e a r t h a r e a c o n t a i n e d some l i k e n e s s e s and d i f f e r e n c e s , b u t t h e d i f f e r e n c e s i n t e n s i f i e d a s tim e p a s s e d and t h e h o u ses i n each e x p a n d in g r e g i o n c h a n g e d . The r e g i o n o f p rim a ry i n t e r e s t h e r e i s t h a t c r e a t e d by th e w e s t­ w ard-m oving New E n g lan d f r o n t i e r w hich by 1830 had c r o s s e d t h e A p p a la c h ia n s v i a New Y o r k 's Mohawk c o r r i d o r and had r e a c h e d t h e s o u t h e r n s h o r e s o f t h e G r e a t Lakes t o M ichigan. The f o r m a ti v e y e a r s o f Mormon c u l t u r e began i n th e e a r l y 1830s i n New Y o r k 's Mohawk V a lle y and O h io 's W estern R e s e rv e , a r e a s r a t h e r e x c l u s i v e l y w i t h i n t h e re a lm o f New E n g lan d f r o n t i e r h o u s in g t r a d i t i o n s . In d e e d , t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e e a r l i e s t c o n v e r t s t o Mormonism had s p e n t t h e i r l i v e s i n a r e a s d o m inated by New E n g lan d fo lk w a y s . Not s u r p r i s i n g l y , h o use t y p e s t r a c e a b l e t o t h e New E n g lan d h e a r t h w ere b u i l t by Mormons i n Nauvoo, I l l i n o i s , i n t h e 1840s ( L i l l i b r i d g e , 109; Newcomb, 153) and l a t e r i n t h e i s o l a t e d M ountain West Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.