Step Back to Simpler Times
We live in a noisy world, inundated with people talking, cars, airplanes, running refrigerators and AC units, dogs barking next door, televisions,
radios, or podcasts or books in our earphones.
But head out to the Minor Porter Log House in LLELA to experience life in the 1860s, and you’ll discover something our world lacks — silence — aside from cicadas, birds, and the wind whistling across the prairie.
“I’d like to think people head out here for the peace and quiet,” said Helen Munro, a volunteer docent at the log house and homestead area. “It’s something to do to get you away from things artificial or mechanical.”
It’s not hard to get to, just an easy .4-mile walk down the Cottonwood Trail, a wide gravel path wending through wooded areas and prairie restorations-in-progress. Sunlight filters through the canopy overhead, and the only sounds you hear are your footsteps and the natural wildlife.
Pay attention, and you might see armadillos, deer, and many varieties of birds. “There’s a lot of wildlife in here,” said Texas Master Naturalist Dawn Marter. “And it blends in pretty good.”
The log home wasn’t originally in this location. “They wouldn’t have built here originally because there’s no nearby water,” Helen said.
During demolition, developers near where WalMart is located in Highland Village discovered it hidden inside another home — in a common practice of the times, the original logs were covered with siding and additional rooms were added as the family needed more space. It was donated to Lewisville, who moved it to the Lewisville Lakes Environmental Learning Area about a mile north of Old Town Lewisville in 2005 and had it restored.
On the third Saturday of each month (except July and August), the home is open to the public. Expert volunteers in period dress give tours and answer questions from 10 am to 1 pm.
“The kids are the best, especially the middle schoolers,” said docent Chris Rice, a Texas Master Naturalist who frequently volunteers at the cabin. “They’re curious enough to ask questions and be really interested.” He added that he learns something new every time he’s out there, usually from looking up the answers to what the kids had asked.
Surrounding the home is a typical homestead of the times, including a dugout — a quick shelter dug into the side of a hill where they could live while building. The inside is also furnished with antiques from that era, including a wooden table with two bowls on each leg (water or oil in the outer one stopped ants from getting on the table) and a “refrigerator” (a cabinet with screens on the ends for airflow and to keep flies out). In the corner is a “Texas one-legged bed,” according to Helen, where they could sleep sitting up when they were sick, as it allowed their lungs to clear better than laying down.
One of Helen’s favorite things is to interact with children, showing them how kids would have played before there were batteries in toys. Outside is a bear on two strings you alternately pull to make it climb. Like “Jack jumped over a candlestick,” Helen shows it’s not a candle holder, but rather an actual stick that newly dipped candles would hang over to dry.
She also explains where “Pop goes the weasel” comes from. Similar in look to a spinning wheel but much smaller, is a device called a “weasel” that was used to measure yarn. After tying the end of the yarn to a spoke, a child would spin it, and when it reached a skein, the inside would literally “pop.”
For more info about the Minor Porter Log House and Homestead, the history of the Minors and Porters, or LLELA, visit LLELA.org
