Independence Pioneer Village

The pioneer village was started in 1988 by Robert & Melba Lee. Each log structure in the village is an original hand hewn log building, all dating back over 100 years. They gathered seven houses, a church/school, a general store, blacksmith’s shop, post office, carriage house, and a jail from Tennessee and Illinois into 22 acres of woodland on their property just outside Oakland, Illinois. Over the years, the site has sponsored various living history programs from Christmas events to Civil War reenactments.
This is the Bartholomew Cabin built in 1828 in by John Bartholomew in Henderson County, Middleburge District, Tennessee. The family and his descendants lived in this cabin continuously for 157 years, ending in 1985. After the Lee's purchased the cabin, each log was marked with a special number, then loaded on a truck to be brought to Illinois. Upon arrival at the village each log was unloaded into category by number. The cabins were then reconstructed according to these numbers.

The Barksdale Cabin was located in Alma Township, Marion County, Illinois about ten miles northeast of Salem. It was one of the oldest, if not the oldest, occupied home in Alma Township representing 154 years of continuous living. The land entry book show that John Christerson entered this forty acres on October 24, 1837. When Mr. Van C. Mundwiler's grandparents moved into the home in 1879 they believed it to have been built in 1837. The Barksdale Family were the last to live in the house, which they did until 1981


This building was originally built in the woods about two miles southeast of Dardin, Tennessee. The cabin was puchased by Mr. and Mrs. Ray Myracle who lived in it in the early 1930s after they were first married. They moved the cabin up to the Smith Chapel Road and lived there until the family out grew it. They built a new house and used the cabin for storage and a barn. When it was purchased for the Village, the bottom logs were rotted away. They were replaced with logs obtained from a barn owned by Roy Chumney. There is no history available on the original date and use of the cabin, however, because of the way it is built, with three windows on a side, one door, and no fireplace it is believed to have been orginally built for a school and/or church.

The name Independence Pioneer Village is a tribute to the origins of Oakland, Illinois. The town was platted under the name Independence in May 1835. Later it was found that another town had that name in Illinois and the town adopted the name Oakland after another extinct post office in the vicinity.