Originally built in the early 1800's by the family of Benjamin Hagood on family land about a half mile from here, this is the third place that this venerable old log cabin has stood.
It is thought because of the unusual interior log wall, that it may have been built as come manner of store or trading post, with the inner room being for safe storage. Either that, or the interior wall was added for strength because of the longer than average (30 ft.) length. This cabin is a "five-log'er," requiring only five logs, averaging 18 inches high to go from floor to ceiling.
By the mid-1900's, with the roof falling inn, the structure suffered from neglect and was in danger of disappearing forever. In 1960, thirteen-year-old Billy Davis of Pickens, talked then owner, attorney W.E. Findley, into selling him the logs for his life savings of $60.00. With the help of his father, Harold Davis, and his grandfather, J.J. Hedden, young Billy was able to see the old cabin reconstructed in back of the Davis home, at that time next to Cannon Hospital in Pickens. For many years, the David family gave tours of the old cabin and even saw it filed for a Randy Travis video when Gormillion Studios was contemplating moving to Pickens County.
In 2001, the property was sold and the cabin was auctioned off. Dr. Larry Brotherton, of Easley, purchased the cabin and to keep it from being taken outside Pickens County he stored the logs at his Easley business. In 2003, he donated the Hagood Cabin to the Pickens County Cultural Commission so that it could be reconstructed here at the Mill Site.
Pickens County owes a debt to young Billy Davis and his family for first rescuing the structure and, especially, to Dr. Larry Brotherton, for his rescue and selfless, generous gift. Master log cabin builders Ralph and Cooter Perry, along with the help of Pickens County Building Maintenance, restored the cabin. Numerous individuals and County Departments assisted in a variety of ways to see that the old Hagood Log Cabin could come, appropriately, to its "home" at Hagood Mill.
Comments 0 comments