Log House near Lafferty

This old Cabin is located along the Lafferty Road. Although we don't know who built this home, we are told that it was moved sometime in the distant past from another site on the hill behind it.

Lafferty School, Nail Cemetery

More from our trip to Lafferty on Saturday...The Lafferty School, the Nail Cemetery, and the Peterson Place. The Lafferty School is shown in an old photo as it appeared when school was held there and in one we took Saturday that reflects the changes. Our thanks to Mr. Hollowell who lives in the building for allowing us to photgraph it and the vintage shots.

Lafferty Schoolhouse

Sipes Cabin, Jackie Blue Home, and Blue Church Cemetery (Lafferty)

The Sipe's Cabin shown here is a hand-hewn log house built when the Sipe family moved to the Lafferty area around 1850. This family faced tragedy during the American Civil-War when jayhawkers murdered three sons of Jacob Jr. and his wife, Caroline. The graves of the boys are shown at the bottom of the post along with three generations of Fulbrights...four if you consider the fifth generation is shown in the photo standing alongside his ancestor's monument. The Fulbrights were among a number of German families...including the Sipes...who migrated to the Lafferty (Anderson in those days) area. The Jackie Blue place is another snapshot of the past. The house is a single-pen hand-hewn square log home with a huge loft (It's been modified over its existence of around 150 years, of course). You'll notice a buckboard in the barn, an old washer on the porch, and a blacksmith's forge under an oak tree. We were told by the owner of the property that during the dark days of the War of Northern Aggression, a mother was terrorized by jayhawkers when she and her 18-month old baby were accosted while her husband was away working the fields. The thug held the infant over the chimney and demanded she reveal where the family's valuables were hidden. This woman took an axe and killed the jayhawker with swift and accurate blow to the head! We were told a family of Mosers lived there at the time. As this was also once occupied by the Blue family, you might be interested in this great tribute to a man who may have even been born in this old house. We'll bring you more from our Saturday morning excursion to Lafferty later in the week!

The Sipes Cabin

The Jackie Blue Home

The Arnold Homeplace

Hidden in a "holler" along a sheltered creek bottom is a time capsule that transports the visitor to another era. We are so grateful for the precious landowner who allowed us to experience this special place...a living snapshot of Izard County's past. One of the fringe benefits of doing what we do is getting to meet such wonderful people...both property owners and readers.

You'll notice the house is built very much like the Wolf House in Norfork. It is pre-civil war, though it has not been officially dated. Although the outside of the structure is covered with weather-boarding, the original structure is hand-hewn square logs. You'll also notice the Smokehouse, the Cattle Barn, the Mule Barn (log construction), and the Springhouse (built with massive hewn blocks of stone).

We hope you enjoy these photographs of the Arnold Homeplace! This site is one that deserves to have its restoration/preservation vigorously pursued.