PAUL GREEN CABIN

The cabin was originally located on old HWY NC 86 between Calvander and Hillsborough. The cabin had been owned by the Robert Davis family, African American craftspeople who made caskets, furniture, and baskets; this structure was the workshop for their business. Davis's wife/widow sold the cabin to Paul Green after her husband Robert's death. Green and his family renovated the cabin after they moved it “log by log” in 1939. A June 16, 1939 entry from Green’s diary stated: “First day’s work in cabin. Wonderful quiet.”

 

The cabin became a quiet writing retreat for Green, which he used until he and his wife sold the property in 1965. In 1991, the cabin was to be torn down by the property owners. Locals wanted to save the cabin, and ultimately the North Carolina Botanical Garden (NCBG) was chosen as the site for its relocation and preservation when the owners donated it. In 1991, the cabin was moved from Paul Green’s former property on Greenwood Road to the NCBG, where it was restored and is now open to the public.

 

On the Green's property, circa 1940 (via NC Botanical Garden)