A Story of a Smokehouse

Editors note:  Calvin Underwood sent us these pictures and the story about an old, family smokehouse that was relocated from Sevier County to the family farm in Hope.  The family is working to restore the smokehouse…

Sometime around 1967/68, My father, Howard Underwood, found this smokehouse on the old
home place in Horatio. It was in good shape and Dad contacted the landowner and gained
permission to relocate it. We all went as a family and took the smokehouse apart and relocated it
to our farm in Hope, Arkansas. The logs were cypress and hand cut and hewn by Calvin Jerome Underwood
to make a smokehouse to hang and cure meat. I remember there were even some of the original
cedar shake shingles that he hand cut laying around on the ground ; however, not in good enough
condition to use again. I estimate the smokehouse would have been built by Calvin Jerome Underwood
about 1920. This picture is undated but was probably in the late 70’s.

The Smokehouse is still on the farm in Hope, where my brother Jerome now lives. Recently we
came up with a plan to move it to a concrete pad and replace some of the logs that have
deteriorated.