Historic Log Cribs
Medina, Bandera County, Texas
Marker Inscription
These log cribs were constructed by the family of John Travis Walker and his wife, Mariah (Yoast), soon after they settled on the surrounding 400 acres in 1897. Their function was to store feed for livestock, mostly sheep and goats, draft horses or mules, and a milk cow. The craftsmanship suggests they were built by members of the Walker family and friends. The crib on the west side was built first and shows more skillful hand-hewn qualities than the other, which uses larger, round logs. The construction illustrates the log building techniques brought by Anglo settlers from the Upper Southern states (NC, TN, VA, KY, WV) to Central Texas in the nineteenth century. Common features found in structures from both regions include rough-hewn logs with unfilled spaces between them, single-saddle notches cut with an axe on the corners to form an interlocking joint with a similarly notched log set at right angles to it, pole-rafter gabled roofs fastened at the apex with wooden pins, mortised rafter plates, and hand carved rafter pins. The logs are mostly cedar with some cypress. Larger logs are on the bottom, setting on flat, stacked limestone. Every task was accomplished by hand with muscle power from the walker family and their animals. Within a hundred steps of these cribs, Walker built a shed for shearing, a smoke house and a clapboard home where he died in 1938. In 1940, his heirs sold the property to Marvin A. And Lucille S. Hatfield, in whose family it has remained. The log cribs are good representatives of vernacular log outbuildings of their period and region. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2016
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Soon after John Travis Walker and his wife Mariah settled 400 acres near Medina in 1897, their family built these log cribs to store feed for sheep, goats, draft animals, and a milk cow. The craftsmanship—rough-hewn logs, single-saddle notches, and pole-rafter roofs pinned with wood—reflects building traditions carried by Anglo settlers from the Upper South into Central Texas. Every task was done by hand, with muscle from the family and their animals.
Why it matters
These humble outbuildings preserve the vernacular log-building techniques and self-reliant ranching life of nineteenth-century Hill Country settlers.
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Related people
- · John Travis Walker
- · Mariah Yoast Walker
Themes & tags
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