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Albin Johnson Log House

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1885, Amandus Johnson. N894 S. German Settlement Rd., at County Rd. YY
  • (Photograph by Paul J. Jakubovich, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society)

In 1878, Swedish immigrants arrived in this white pine forest, hoping to settle along the Spirit River. Discovering Germans already there, the Swedes fanned out along the tributaries, including Johnson Creek. Swedish craftsman Amandus Johnson built this one-and-a-half-story, side-gabled house for Albin Johnson, using pine, tamarack, and hemlock. Its log construction features flat-hewn sides and coved bottoms, fitted and pegged together to form walls connected with half-dovetail notches. One-inch holes appear at intervals along the logs where Amandus placed pegs that formed his scaffold while he built the structure. When he finished, he plugged the holes with wood. The two doorways in the main facade each lead to its own room. Divided by a fireplace, the two equal-sized rooms fill the ground floor. Originally a ladder led to the sleeping loft, but now a steep staircase provides access. The house originally stood on a farmstead about 1.5 miles to the northwest. It was moved to this site in 1969 to save it from demolition.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Marsha Weisiger et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Finnish Log Buildings

Citation

Marsha Weisiger et al., "Albin Johnson Log House", [Ogema, Wisconsin], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/WI-01-PR4.

Print Source

Buildings of Wisconsin

Buildings of Wisconsin, Marsha Weisiger and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2017, 308-308.

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