The King House is a log dogtrot built in the 1830s. The house itself is virtually unchanged in appearance, although it is not in its original location. The dogtrot was moved in 1991 from a rural setting near the small hamlet of Clifton in Washington Parish to the grounds of Mile Branch Settlement, a collection of mainly log buildings representing the pioneer heritage of the parish.

The King House consists of a room (pen) on either side of an open (dogtrot) corridor. A pitched roof encompasses full porches front and rear. The house is constructed of large half round logs with square notching. In fact, many features of the house are large scale. The dogtrot corridor is roughly twelve feet wide, the sills are forty-seven feet long, and the plates measure fifty-four feet. A log at each end of each of the pens extends to the edge of the front and rear porches to provide structural support. The section supporting the porch ceilings is chamfered. This continuous span was broken when the porches were removed in preparation for the journey to Mile Branch Settlement. It is now nailed together. The house rests upon its original sandstone rocks.

The King House has the following “refined” features not associated generally with log construction: chamfered front porch posts, beaded ceiling boards and exposed beaded ceiling beams in both pens, and two vernacular Federal mantels. Both mantels feature superimposed planks giving the semblance of pilasters, a multiple layer plank shelf, and lozenge motifs formed of strips of wood. The entablature of the more elaborate one has a band of panels with strips of wood forming an X pattern. Above are the builder’s initials (T. I. K.) in wooden strips flanked by panels with lozenges. The walls of this room retain their original six inch flushboard sheathing, while the other room has been covered in narrow gauge beaded board. The rear porch has simple square posts.

When the house was donated to Mile Branch Settlement, it had received various alterations, including covering the exterior with drop siding, enclosing the dogtrot corridor, and enclosing the rear porch. These alterations were reversed as part of the move and restoration. The tin roof was replaced with wooden shakes.

The core of the house was moved intact, with the porches and roof being disassembled. They were carefully reassembled using the original materials. There was a very small amount of replacement due to rot (less than 5%), most notably the two end front porch posts. (These have been replicated in design, although the treated wood makes them obvious.)

Founded in 1975, Mile Branch Settlement is a collection of eighteen mainly log buildings moved from elsewhere in the parish with the exception of a reconstructed church. Roughly one-third of the buildings are small dependencies. Two of the major buildings, the Knight and Sylvest houses, are listed on the Register.

The buildings are tightly packed on an approximately six acre parcel on the periphery of the Washington Parish Fairgrounds in the small town of Franklinton. Fortunately, the museum abuts the fairgrounds on only two sides. Mile Branch Creek defines the property on the south side, separating it from the fairgrounds. This long boundary has numerous mature trees which effectively screen the museum from the various buildings on the fairgrounds. To the north and west is open countryside. Once on the property, the presence of the fairgrounds is minimal. The exception is along the fairly short eastern boundary where there is a metal sided building across the street. The King House is on the edge of the museum complex, with open countryside to the rear.

The house itself is remarkably well preserved. It looks just as it did in King’s day except for turn-of-the-century beaded board walls in one room, brick chimneys instead of the original mud ones, and the simple balustrade on the rear porch which was added for safety reasons. The only serious integrity issue is the change from its original rural setting to the present “recreated village” setting. Log buildings were originally widely dispersed about the landscape rather than clumped closely together in a village setting. However, the King House is important because antebellum log dogtrots with any degree of integrity are now quite rare within the state, and it is a particularly outstanding survivor (see Part 8).

It also should be stressed that the chances of survival in its original remote location were slim. The house had not been occupied since the 1940s and needless to say was deteriorating. King family members also realistically feared that a vagrant might start a fire and burn the place down. Because they wanted to secure the property’s future, they donated it to Mile Branch Settlement, realizing that it was the best chance for survival. Today the house is in mint condition and restored to its original appearance.

The King House is of state significance in the area of architecture as a landmark among a very limited number of surviving antebellum log dogtrots in Louisiana. The historic context is the Upland South building tradition of the state.

Appalachian Uplanders were the dominant cultural group to settle northern Louisiana, sections of the Florida parishes, and areas of west central Louisiana. Settlement began in the early nineteenth century, but nothing survives from this early period.

One of the architectural hallmarks of the Upland South Culture is the dogtrot house. In fact, log dogtrots like the King House are rightly regarded as the “emblem” of Louisiana’s Upland South Culture. The dogtrot was a very popular house type, and just about any large farm probably would have had one. While there are several dozen surviving dogtrots in Louisiana, it is extremely rare to find one from the antebellum period and one with its dogtrot corridor still open. The King House is one of less than a dozen antebellum log dogtrots remaining in Louisiana that retain their open passageways. The loss is quite dramatic when one considers that hundreds of them were built.

The King House is additionally important because of its architectural pretension. Typically, log houses were unadorned, featuring plain square posts and very plain plank mantels or simply a plank mantel shelf. Ceilings were usually covered with boards, and walls were either exposed logs or sheathed in boards. By contrast, the King House has chamfered porch posts, beaded ceiling boards and exposed beaded beams, and elaborate vernacular Federal mantels, one complete with the owner’s initials. It is thought to be the only log house in Louisiana with such architectural sophistication.

The house was built by Thomas Iverson King (1809-1858). He was born in Georgia and is believed to have come to Washington Parish via Amite County, Mississippi in about 1830. On December 9, 1831, he married Lucy A. Bickham of Washington Parish, and the house is dated by the family on this basis. An 1830s date seems reasonable given the architectural evidence, chiefly the mantels.

The Kings had ten children. Their ninth child, John Benjamin King, lived in the house until about 1932. After his death in 1934, the house was occupied by renters for several years. It has been vacant since the 1940s. It was donated to Mile Branch Settlement by two great, great grandchildren of the builder, Dorothy King Tickler and William Roy King, and their mother, Bessie Warren King. The house was known by the family as “Grandpa’s House” and is so named at Mile Branch Settlement.

King Family Genealogical Records.

Division of Historic Preservation survey files and staff knowledge of log buildings in Louisiana.

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