THIS OLD HOUSE The original log house is over 100 years old. It was built by my great grandfather. (Picture painted by Alma Ruth Dedmon Smith. Ruth is my (Leroy's) sister) We are presently living in the house with mom, who will be ‘93 on January 8, 2005. I am so amazed at her memory of family members who have long gone to their “reward”... She has been very helpful to me from the beginning of my genealogy research. The house in which we live is built around the little log house built by my great grandfather, John Marion Dickson. He built the “one room” log house with a “lean-to” kitchen prior to 1900 for his tenants. When my grandparents (George Dickson and Pearl Templeton) married in 1911 they moved into the house. My mom was born in this house in 1912. When my mom was three years old her father added a room, which you can see in the above picture. It was not built of logs, but rather “rough” lumber from the saw mill. We think he also built the front porch and a small back porch about the same time. After the death of my grandfather in 1918, grandmother moved to nearby “Rabbit” Valley along with mom and her sister Edna. They moved back to the house in 1923 for a short period of time. I was born about a mile from this house and remember as a boy my cousins (the Gilberts) living in the house. By then we had moved closer to Chattanooga for dad to not have so far to drive every day. I spent most of my summers as a teenager with my cousins. When dad retired in the ‘60s, mom and dad moved back to the house and began the additions that are still present today. There is a living room and screened porch on the front and two bedrooms, a kitchen and bath across the back of the house plus two bedrooms in the attic. The “rustic” look has been retained. This picture (click here) will give you an idea of how it looks today. You can still see the area where the log room is, which now is just the den. Also, you can see the front roof line and the back area that is built completely across the house. The trees make it almost impossible to get a good view of the house.

I will try to give you a glimpse of our yard. These pictures were all taken in the Spring and early Summer of 2004. (be patient as these are large pictures and will take a long time to load)
The cactus are really beautiful when they are all in full bloom.	The picture does not do justice to the little lily pond. All the rocks actually came out of the hole.	Please don't ask me to identify all the flowers. Maybe next year...
Standing on the north side of the house and looking across the front yard. The house is to the left..		This shows the pond in relation to the house. You can see the log portion of the house through the trees.
A view with my back to the house looking north. Still the front yard.	From almost the same spot, but looking west toward the mountain.	We are on the south side with our back to the house, looking east.

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Revised: 10/18/2004