Dendroarchaeology at the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site: Contextualizing the landscape of an Upland South farmstead in East Tennessee, USA

Dendroarchaeology has been an invaluable resource in aiding management agencies with data that can authenticate or contest traditional dates of construction for historic log structures. Tipton-Haynes is a well-documented state historic site in East Tennessee with two log structures thought to be constructed by its original occupant, Colonel John Tipton, in the late eighteenth century. To examine the landscape history of the site, these structures were dated using dendrochronology to contextualize the built environment over time. Structures include a renovated log cabin that stands as the core of a Greek-Revival farmhouse and a double-pen log corn crib. Results of the analysis show that the Tipton farmhouse was constructed in 1799 to serve as a retirement residence with renovations occurring shortly after 1821 by John Tipton, Jr., while the corn crib was constructed by Landon Haynes in 1851 during an expansion of farm production on the site. Our study contextualized the provenience of these structures over time which allowed us to recognize why these changes took place on the landscape and under whose ownership these changes occurred. Such dendroarchaeological studies provide a deeper understanding of the history of construction of historic sites in Tennessee and the Southeastern U.S. in general, helping historians, historical architects, and historical agencies more accurately interpret and understand the value of our historic resources.