Outlander trivia — Yay!!

Diana’s Webmistress here. I am the nerd who maintains Diana’s busy website on the programming end.

Note that I haven’t discussed the Byrnside-Beirne-Johnson House with Diana yet, so the text below is my personal opinion only.

The story in the link you shared says a man, described as an amateur archaeologist and lawyer, bought an ’1850s plantation house’ in about 2019, then TOOK A CROWBAR to the walls (!!) to uncover a log structure underneath from the 1700s. It was already known that an 1700s structure likely existed within the walls of the oldest part of the house, according to the National Register of Historic places form from 1993, submitted by a local committee for preservation of history in the area.

So it was well known that the structure was historically significant when the current owner bought it.

My opinion is that amateurs should not be excavating nor ‘renovating’ a known historically significant site without (at least) advice and cooperation of professional archaeologists. (Amateurs should not be doing brain surgery, either, IMO.)

Log houses that were reinforced and could be used for protection when under attack were usually called ‘blockhouses,’ or ‘fortified houses’. Often multiple local families might gather at a local blockhouse when under threat, unlike a military fort or garrison with regular troops. It is named a ‘fortified house’ in the National Register of Historic Places.

For lots of tasty history, read the 1993 form yourself submitted to National Register of Historic Places for the Byrnside-Beirne-Johnson House:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_WV/93001358.pdf

The listing at the National Register’s database for the Byrnside-Beirne-Johnson House is ID number 93001358 at:

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/

Loretta McKibben
webmaster@dianagabaldon.com

Don’t know if you’ve seen this,but I thought of you right away!