Volume 6, Number 2, April 1993, Texas Wendish Heritage Society Newsletter
The Kurio home, originally located on the hill south-west of the Serbin Store, was built in stages during the 19th Century. The first structure, a
The house fell into disrepair while not being occupied, so in 1987 Marvin Kurio offered all or part of the building to the Museum. It was decided to take the 1856 log room, which was intact and in excellent condition, and the remaining parts of the log walls of the 1855 room.
In the Museum
During the preparation for removal, great care was taken to record the original structure with photographs and measurements. The 1856 room was moved intact, but each log of the 1855 room was numbered, photographed, and its position sketched so that reconstruction would be accurate. The log construction is particularly noteworthy. The 1855 was built with full logs, cut and trimmed on all sides, assembled with V notching and chinked with stone and mud. The 1856 logs are half round, and assembled with half-dovetail notching, but no chinking was used.
This project was made possible by many Museum volunteers, and a grant from George Boerger, Weldon Boerger, and the Coca-Cola Company. A project notebook was prepared, containing a scale drawing of the floor plan, photographs, and measured drawings and is available for study. Further information on log building construction in Texas is available in our library in “Texas Log Buildings” by Terry Jordan, and on log construction in Lusatia in “Geschichte Der Sorben.”
Read more about it.