Have you noticed the log cabin under renovation, just off of Highway 25, North of Centreville, and near the Stella Jones pole plant in Six Mile ?
About five years ago (2020) State Senator April Weaver and her husband Darrel acquired a tired & well worn dwelling on property adjacent to the Weaver home, in the Six Mile area of Bibb County, Alabama. They were not sure what to do with the unattractive structure. They soon discovered that the aged house was hiding a priceless gem behind its worn interior and weathered exterior walls. None other than a pristine dog trot style log cabin was hidden inside the walls, a priceless historic structure that may turn out to be one of the oldest surviving log cabins in the State of Alabama.
Serious restoration work has been underway for several months now to reveal the original log cabin structure and restore the historic property. The Weaver’s research reveals the chronological history of a family structure that may have been erected by the Claybaugh family, on land eventually deeded by former U.S. President Andrew Jackson. The United States Land Patent Deed to Claybaugh, recorded years after the Claybaugh’s 1814 relocation to Bibb County, follows the famous Creek Indian war that took place largely in Alabama. A land patent deed is the manner in which the early United States Government vested legal title to government owned land in an original Grantee.
The restoration work is being done by craftsman Gary Fields of Barnwood Life. You can see progress photos on his website at this link. Barnwood began their restoration work in March 2025.
The Claybaugh’s were immigrants of original Germanic descent who followed the Scotch-Irish pathway of immigration to the United States as early as the Sixteenth Century, settling first in Maryland and then spreading to Tennessee. It appears that at least one set of the family arrived to settle in Bibb County, Alabama as early as 1814. It is an exciting story.
John & Elizabeth Claybaugh, along with his father-in-law Henry Haggard, reportedly left Tennessee with their six children, in 1814, after John Claybaugh served under General Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. After seeing the beautiful Alabama territory during the indian conflict the family chose to relocate and to settle in Alabama.
The Claybaugh history in Bibb County took several other turns and twists that will be of riveting interest to historical readers and geneaological sleuths.
This article and video offers a glimpse into the historic structure. As the work continues we will reveal more information about the history of the structure, the Claybaugh family, successor owners of the historic property, and the ongoing progress of restoration.
The Weavers hope to complete the Six Mile historic property renovation as soon as this Fall 2025.
Keep reading Bibb Voice and Centreville Press for more posts and information on this project.
