A History of Keith Cabin

The cabin, built in 1886 by William Thomas Keith, is a vestige of a once-thriving family farm in rural Holmes County, Fla. Situated on what was initially a 10-acre homesteaded farm that eventually grew to 188 acres, the cabin combines with the setting of original landscapes (including large open fields and stands of oak, pecan, and fig trees planted by Keith in the late 1800s) to help convey its association as a 19th-century pioneer home.
 

The cabin rests on its original foundation and is an excellent and rare example of "Louisiana roof" style log construction—found only in the Gulf States from East Texas to the Florida Panhandle. In 2000, the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and to date, the Keith Cabin is Florida's only residential log home listed on the National Register.
 

In addition to the architectural significance of the cabin, Tom Keith was a "Renaissance Man" of the day and is historically noteworthy—he was a homesteader, farmer, Civil War child-militiaman, merchant, postal carrier, a certified medical practitioner, and was married to a Native American. Tom Keith was a member of the Florida Home Guard during the Civil War and is documented as the Confederacy's third youngest soldier. He and his brother George Washington Keith were the last surviving brothers who took part in the War effort. These brothers were featured in Life Magazine in 1949 and are featured throughout the books: "The South's Last Boys in Gray," "Callow Brave & True—A Gospel of Civil War Youth," and "Our Youngest Blue and Gray," written by professor Jay S. Hoar, a renowned Civil War historian and author from Maine.
 

Special Thanks to the Sconiers Family

 The Keith Cabin Foundation

And the folks at the beautiful Waits Mansion in Bonifay, FL

www.waitsmansion.com