Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory - Georgia


Georgia

Wright-Blaylock House

Wright-Blaylock House, Lincolnton, Georgia, (33.806733, -82.459430)


Primary Phase of House         Felling Dates: Spring 1822, Winter 1824/5, Winter 1825/6, Summer 1828


Site Master 1659–1827 WBGx1 (dates as part of area master Georgia1).


The Wright-Blaylock House, just east of Lincolnton, Georgia, has a complex history, if anything made more mysterious by dendrochronology. Traditionally dated to 1792, the earliest land record near the beginning of the area’s settlement, a date very early in the nineteenth century seemed likely given the presence of HL hinges, wrought iron nails, and pit sawn timber in the first story. It has a variant of a central-passage plan with two front doors, perhaps because it was an inn. Field investigation revealed that the second story is later than the first: the corner posts are not continuous between the two stories (unusual in a two-story structure built in one go); new framing elements are sash sawn; and the moldings belong to the vernacular Greek Revival. Perhaps the still vernacular but relatively sophisticated Federal style moldings and chimneypieces of the first story should be read as suggestive of a date in the 1820s. Dendrochronology dates the first story to 1828, although some of its timber was felled as early as 1822.


A dendrochronological study of the Wright-Blaylock House was undertaken in an attempt to date the primary construction phase of the building, the first story. Seven timbers in total were sampled from the structure, all constructed from loblolly pine. Each sample was given the code wbg (For Wright-Blaylock House, Georgia) and numbered 1 to 7. The position of each sample was noted at the time of sampling (Mark Reinberger)


Worthington, M J and Seiter, J I 2018 “The Tree-Ring Dating of Ten Vernacular Buildings in Northeastern Georgia”, unpublished Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory archive report 2018/05



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Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory

Proprietors
Michael Worthington
Jane Seiter, Ph.D

25 E. Montgomery St.
Baltimore, MD 21230

410-929-1520

michael@dendrochronology.com