- Slabsides
Infobox nrhp
name = Slabsides (John Burroughs Cabin)
nrhp_type = nhl
caption = Slabsides in 2005
location = West Park, NY
nearest_city = Poughkeepsie
lat_degrees = 41
lat_minutes = 47
lat_seconds = 40
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 73
long_minutes = 58
long_seconds = 23
long_direction = W
area = 170 acres (68 ha)
built = 1895
architect =John Burroughs
architecture = Adirondacklog cabin
designated=November 24 ,1968 cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=791&ResourceType=Building
title=Slabsides (John Burroughs Cabin)|date=2007-09-11|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added =November 24 ,1968 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 68000034cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
mpsub =
governing_body =John Burroughs Association Slabsides is the
log cabin built by naturalistJohn Burroughs and his son on a nine-acre (3.6 ha) wooded and hilly tract in 1895 one mile east ofRiverby , his home in West Park,New York . From the time of its construction to the last year of his life, he received many visitors here, ranging fromTheodore Roosevelt andHenry Ford to students fromVassar College , just across theHudson River .Breslof, Lisa; 2007; [http://research.amnh.org/burroughs/slabsides_sanct.html Slabsides] ; retrieved June 4, 2007 from amnh.org.]Building and site
Slabsides is a simple one-story log cabin with an open living/dining/kitchen/study area and a bedroom that can be partitioned off. It is located on the west side of a hill in the wooded John Burroughs Sanctuary. There is no direct access by motor vehicle; to reach it, visitors must park on the gravel road up the hill and follow a gated logging road slightly downhill, then level, roughly 0.3 mile (500 m) to the cabin.
History
"Life has a different flavor here", Burroughs wrote of the cabin in his
essay "Far and Near". "It is reduced to simpler terms; its complex equations all disappear." The name "Slabsides" came from the roughbark -covered lumber strips covering its outer walls. "I might have given it a prettier name, but not one more fit, of more in keeping with the mood that brought me thither". Much of the cabin remains as he and his son built it, including the redcedar posts holding up theporch .After his death in 1921, the property was presented to the
John Burroughs Association , which had just been formed to preserve his legacy. When nearbylogging operations and proposed development threatened the property in the mid-1960s, the association purchased the properties with money raised from supporters. This has resulted in an expansion of the property into the 170-acre (68 ha) John Burroughs Sanctuary. The cabin was designated aNational Historic Landmark in 1968,,citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/68000035.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Slabsides, John Burroughs Study] |305 KB|author=Richard Greenwood|date=February, 1976|publisher=National Park Service, (Note misfiled under REFNUM for Riverby rather than REFNUM for Slabsides) and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/68000035.pdf Accompanying 3 photos, exterior and interior, from 1975 and undated.] |618 KB] joiningRiverby andWoodchuck Lodge as Burroughs-associated properties carrying that designation.Access
To reach the cabin, visitors must park at the base of the road to it on Burroughs Drive and walk up a half-mile (800 m). The cabin itself, furnished exactly as it was when Burroughs left it, is only open to visitors twice a year, from noon to 4:30 p.m. on the third Saturday in May and the first one in October.
Hiking trail s have been constructed for visitors to enjoy for themselves the woods that inspired Burroughs. The sanctuary is open year-round.ee also
*
Riverby
*Woodchuck Lodge References
External links
* [http://research.amnh.org/burroughs/slabsides_sanct.html John Burroughs Association: Slabsides]
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