The History of Stump Houses 

honestly it brings tears to my eyes seeing those old pictures of those massive ancient trees felled. all part of the beautiful lost America none of us will ever get to see.

One of my great grandmothers was born in a redwood stump house in California in 1845. At 3:00 in this video you can see one of my great grandfather's, first row,far right (holding a pipe). His name was Joseph Foster. He is standing with 49 other men on the stump of the "Mark Twain" redwood tree,which was sectioned and sent back east for exhibition.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was "my side of the mountain" about a kid who runs away and actually lives inside the bottom of a partially hollowed out tree. I think it was a redwood. I loved it!

It makes me so sad to see these ancient trees all felled...but the fact that folk made use of the stumps is fascinating! Thankyou. I never knew this! ❤

I stayed in one as a kid. It was on my buddies property when they bought it. We fixed it up as a Fort and camped in it. It was probably 10' wide inside.

33 years old and I've heard of these but never really knew the history. As a student of history, I thank you for sharing this cool bit of it.

i know a man who is in his 70's now. who planted 16 trees when he was a young boy with his dad in the middle of a forest [ 30 years later ] he built a tree house within the square of trees he and his dad planted . now he lives in a town house but i did get to see his tree house a few years ago he took me there ! theres no way i would ever find the place on my own , as you can almost walk right past it without seeing it . this thing / house had 3 storys no roof as such just a slanted green tarp streached between the trees no real walls just branches that over the years he inter twined together . he told me he lived there for 35 years with no bathroom no windows no real door . every bit of the house was made from branches the only thing he had was a realy big pot belly stove with a 30 ft steel stack set right in the middle of the trees two sets of ladders made from straight thin tree trunks . honestly my discription of this place is a realy poor attempt to describe something that litraly grew . all he did was wait and year by year got planks ready and trained the branches to his desire / cut off branches in the middle and twisted branches together between trees [ making a living wall as such ] he lived in the middle of this woodland for almost 35 years with no one bothering him . sadly where we live the authoritys will not let you live how you want . and today he now lives in a shared comunity housing [ hell] as he thinks ] tbh! i think hes better off where he is now only because he's too old to be climbing hand made ladders he even admitted to me when he took me there [ in a sort of around about way ] like old folk do ; you can go up the ladders if you like but i dont know how sound the floor is so watch your step lad he said ! the tree house was an amazing place sadly a lot of the timber he had put there was quite rotten so i never even dared to go to the top floor . this story told by the appalachian storyteller reminds me so much of this old kid i know , all he wanted was shelter and he litral grew it then put floors in where he needed them this tree house is still out there i know whitch woodland it is in but for sure i could not find it today .

Give me the good old days before planning boards and permits. I'm old and lived in the era we built when we needed and it was no one's business but ours. Loved the pictures. Never saw a postcard with a picture of the stump houses. I'm totally amazed.

Never underestimate the resourcefulness of country folk.

JD, I am 65 years old and I never heard of these wonderful stump houses. They are so amazing. I wish I could see one in real life. Thank you for sharing this with us ❤❤❤❤❤❤

Those were times when people were free to put a roof of some kind over their heads, and not be compelled to live under a bridge or in a tent along side a street. I have heard and read about people living in hollow trees or stumps in pioneer days. Thanks, JD, for the great story.

Got pictures of my grandpa living in a stump house, Corbin, ky.

In Perry County, Georgia in 1997 at the county fair, we saw a 24 ft. log built onto a trailer. It was hollowed out all the way through with three rooms and a door on each end the rooms were 6.5 ft.tall and wide.

What an amazing people from whom we of Appalachian blood descend. “Resilience and innovation” is a perfect summation of the Appalachian culture. With the world getting as it is, my family have had a fair few conversations about moving back to join our family in the mountains. And if we don’t, I know our people will still be there whenever my descendants decide to go back home.

I am crying for all These wonderful trees. It is heartbreaking.

My great-grandmother's house is still standing in Aiken, SC. It's made entirely of American Chestnut and has a central hearth fireplace with a big cast iron pot and cradle still in it. My cousin Jeff lives in it. We've caught several people over the years trying to steal wood off of the house. It was built in the late 1800's

WOW, JD!! I've never heard of such a thing before! The creativeness and ingenuity of the Appalachian immigrants was out of this world! I'm so impressed! I would've loved living in a stump house!

My fifth great granddad Christopher Kit Maynard settled a little holler by building a cabin into a cave mouth. Now known as Brushy Creek, Pike County KY. They were so inguinitive and resilient back then.

We (humans) can be so creative, and capable of marvelous achievements. At the same time capable of such destruction, and ignorance. I pray we come together and smarten up. Thank you for sharing!

That has to be just about the coolest house I've EVER seen!

Truly amazing!!!!! This is something I would HAPPILY live in today!!!!

How interesting but such a tragedy at the loss of such majestic trees. All for nothing but greed. Our forest are disappearing at an alarming rate and no protection for them in sight. Breaks my heart.

Trees used to be so tall and majestic until we came and cut them down. We literally are blind to the world around us. I’m sorry. Someone has to say it. Trees- I’m so sorry.

Some of the stump houses were beautiful with windows and balconies! Amazing.

Man, it's so sad to see these wonderful trees in just pictures! Couldn't they have left a few for us to enjoy? Honestly, how amazing they must have looked in real life!

"And they'd fix em up riiiiight nice!" 😁

Seriously who wouldn't love a stump house. Amazing

Today some local, state or federal official would tell us why this is illegal and threaten us with imprisonment and/or fines. "How dare anyone live for free and not be on the grid, it's bad enough some people own their land and are living off the grid, we can't have free housing as well." So yeah, that's today's "freedom" in America. Look at the beauty, ingenuity and quality workmanship in this video, simply amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this video. 🙏

Just wanted to let you know I had to put my dad in a place called Journey home today... instead of the nursing home cuz I could not do that to him. it's a really nice place has six bedrooms. They take patients that have 30 days or less so I don't know... can't really think straight right now but I wanted to let no the last few nights I shared your videos with him and he really enjoyed them at this really special I'm still watch the videos and hit like and support I just may not comment for a little while if you could just keep me in your prayers Thank you

I would love to live in a stump house. So sad that it shows the greed of men though. Awesome story, thank you.

Amazing!! I wish I could have lived in the time of the majestic, huge chestnut trees. To gaze upon the virgin forests. What an exciting time it must have been. I love seeing the stump houses, I would have been proud to live in one. That shows appreciation for God's natural creations. The sweet times that have faded into history. Now days with too much social media, many peoples lives have no mystery. A lack of morals and self respect, has replaced love of God and country in many instances. I fear that too much progress is actually determential.

The first tiny house. Heard of them never seen one.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Awesome ❤️ 🍁

I live in British Columbia, Canada and I love listening to storytellers. I just found your channel and it is amazing. I have always loved Appalachian music, especially the ballads. I really loved the story about granny witches, that is what true witches are, nothing like the bs we see on social media. Sending you much love and light.

Well, ya got me with this one, JD. I hadn't heard of such in Appalachia. I wish I could live in one, in the middle of nowhere, right now... partially because of that aversion to politicians! ~Bama

This year I bought three hybrid American Chestnut trees to plant on my property in Virginia. I may not be around long enough to ever see one grow that large.

I love how well dressed they were, my grandparents were like that. They lived out in the bushes but they were always nicely dressed.

I never knew people lived like this ! That is so amazing! All those people were so inventive, and resortsful. My hat off to them all!! 🎩👏

J D I am 77 years young and have roamed the mountains of sw virginia and have never came across any chestnut stumps of this size. I guess that the elevation here in Wyhte co va, the trees did not grow as big here. But love this this is very inlightning

I found out why I cried when I heard harps, fiddles or flute. I also was enamored with banjos and mountain music. My great grand daddy on my dads side came over during the Black '47s or there abouts when the potato famine hit Ireland. He was Scotch-Irish and married a Cherokee woman. I knew I had some of the old country in me and always loved the hills, I was made from their stock and the Cherokee they married. I am a outdoor, hills kinna guy. Your stories bring tears to my eyes when I hear about the old timers and the old country, especially the part about not contributing to corrupt politicians and banksters (Legend of The Fall). Living off the grid is long good, healthy living and my grand da was born in 1902. He lived until he was about 102 as well. My mom is currently 95. My estranged dad, who became too city, my granda's son, is 96. So, I got a long history of the hills in my family along with the strength of character and gravity to the old ways and living long. I still use roots, berries, herbs and such to keep healthy and don't like the city much but stay close to take care of my mom's administrative affairs after moving her out of independent living in a retirement home by myself and into a nursing home, at about 92 years of age, because I never married a city girl (money) and raised a family. So I couldn't tend to her myself at the ready. I was always working from about 5 and knew how to drive a tractor at about 8. Grew up on Maryland Easter shore on the Wicomico Rives in the summer. When I hear your stories, I can't help but love this. It's so real and so heart felt I feel it in my bones and always look forward to hearing more. Thank you for all you do. It means a lot even though this is just words on a page. But city living was never for me. I lived in the element for over 42 years and slept like some of these people did, only not so well. But I survived 2 residual hurricanes, 3 record breaking blizzards, hitched across the US and back from coast to coast sleeping under the stars sometimes and just turned 67, moving in to a new apartment by my lonesome. So I know I got the strength of the original pioneers in my genes and it shows, thank the Lord. I am so thankful for being in touch with the photos you show and the stories. It means more to me than gold. Thanks again, you absolutely Rock!

So interesting. I turned 66 today. You just proved you can teach an old dog new tricks. I have never heard of stump houses. I might find a bigger one of those than the bird house apartment I’m in now. Thanks for the super fun and educational video.

French citizen here. First time hearing about those tiny houses of yore so thanks for sharing. I'm conflicted: Glad that people with little money could have shelter but I also wish those magnificent giant trees could have been saved, restart from their feet... It's easier to collect & destroy than create isn't it.

Fascinating! I'm 53 and never knew such houses even existed. Well done video I enjoyed it!

Ya stumped me on this one. 😅

I love when I can learn about the origins of slang phrases! "Stump speech"...who knew!!

I have heard of people living in stump houses. Country folk will servive I remember my Mother telling me of this

You actually had me…..wait for it….stumped, with this most informative video yet. You are a true teacher of a world that existed not to many years ago, and still probably have descendants that are still living the Appalachian life. Thank you!!

The images provided with this story are amazing. Great work, JD.

I love the pic of dancers assembling on the stump.

I love these stump houses! I absolutely would live in one..lol

149 # we love these stories.. keep them coming J.D…

Great pics. Beautiful old trees.

JD it’s pity these magnificent trees were cut down. But it is what it is. Awesome video brother God bless.🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

I'd be happy living in one now.

If I had my chance to have a Treehouse, I would live there. A tree lover all my life ❤

I could live in one comfortably. I think this is just amazing!❤

I’ve lived in the upstate of SC for over twenty years and visited Stunphouse tunnel outside of Walhalla many times. I’m so glad I know the origin of the name.

Want to thank you for sharing these stories. Thank you for the truth . Thank you for mentioning God . These folks would not like the world today , keep up with the true stories of real life and mountain folks . 😊

I would totally live in a stump house. My favorite book as a kid was My Side of the Mountain where a boy runs away to the woods and lives in a hollow tree. It has always fascinated me.... Thanks for the video! PS. Appalachian folk still got no use for politicians!

Gosh I wish I could see one. When you think of the abodes our forefathers created- caves, sod, mud, etc. it shouldn't be surprising they would utilize sturdy stumps. I imagine that stumps did make sturdy, secure structures to house and protect animals that were so important to survival. Wonder how many still stand. great story dear! Stay safe and GOD bless

I've always wanted to live in a cave but I find these to be very interesting. Thanks for sharing this with us JD and stay safe my friend 🙏

Are there any remaining houses, hopefully if so they are protected, that people can visit?

Thank you!! I had never heard of stump houses. It is awesome to see people's ingenuity in making use of these stumps and sad they cut down all of these old trees.

They're beautiful!

I've never heard of a stump house. Very unique for sure.

BEAUTIFUL!!!! And one of the last photos of the woman at the window of her Stump Home, that Stump exudes happiness, to me ❤️❤️❤️

Wow you outdone yourself on this one never heard of stump houses before great pictures terrific job ❤ it

In the early 1980's I stayed in a motel in Eukia, CA. Across the street from the motel was a gas station that had its office built into a massive Redwood Tree stump. Knowing that the wood from a Redwood can last seemingly forever if properly treated, I have no reason not to believe that the gas station with its Redwood Tree office exists today. From the photos that you showed with your documentary, I have to think that in many cases such living was truly a comfortable and pleasant way to live, even though this living arrangement was a necessary choice for some poor families. Frankly I'm a little envious, since the simple, modest lifestyle is the best way to live, "don't ya think."

Wow, I used to have recurring dreams of my own stump houses and had no idea they were anywhere other than my imagination!

New Sub great video. I'm from South Jersey moved to Appalachia 6 years ago and I will die here. There nothing like the people and freedom we have.

Amazing !! The Land that time forgot !! Gratitude 🙏

4:43 The notch on the left had me wondering if they considered cutting it down then said, “ ya know, I’ve got a better idea.”

Human ingenuity at its best indeed!

You got it going on this week, friend! Theys been times when a tree stump woulda suited me just fine. That cold sidewalk will put your body to hurting, JD! Today's story was awesome brother and I'll see ya early Saturday morning

You can do anything out of anything. I know I do that. Such beauty, what more could u ask for from mother Earth!

JD, i sure do love it!😁 An intriguing simple life with all the natural beauty surrounding you, sounds heavenly to me. I imagine being in these places when you tell about them and it feels warm, peaceful, & loving, just like my mamaw. I always think of her and how she grew up in the depression. Both parents died by the time she was 12 but she had a few brothers and sisters to look after her until she met and married my papaw. I wish i would have payed more attention to what she was teaching me about the woods and everything in them. We're close to Viking mountain in a little place called greystone. We live next to the mouth of bullen holler that takes you up to margarite falls and it's plum beautiful. Way back in the 30's & 40's there was a logging company with a train that ran out of the holler. There's a whole town out in the woods with sidewalks and all. If course it's grown up over the years and the flood in 2001 took a lot of the structures down. It would be a great story to tell if a person had the details about it. Greeneville, Tennessee is where it's at and there's a lot of history there. There's a few places where the sidewalk splits off and runs up to a set of steps to a house. The house is gone but the steps, sidewalk, and well house are still standing. Anyways, Thank you for the story, Prayers & Blessing to you. JD= The GOAT of Appalachian story telling! ✨✌️✨🫶✨🙏✨🤘✨

It gives a whole new meaning to a "tree house"

Resourcefulness!!! Every era has some, from Adobe huts,tipis(teepee),igloos,sod houses of the plains,& log cabins… NEVER underestimate the will to survive!!

Wow what great pictures and craftsmanship

Could you imagine what it looked like? How beautiful the air fresh, the lakes how clear and bright the night skies must of been...

So beautiful living in a house inside of a tree! The tenants must have felt very safe in them.

Well, grandpa didn't have a stump house but he had an oak tree growing right in the dead center of the house. He built the home around it. All you could see was the trunk in the living room, and outside it shaded the home.

Wish I could do that now can’t find a place I can afford I would live there 😊

Absolutely fascinating 😮. The ingenuity of people is so amazing. Another great story.

I think these houses are awesome

They had stump houses at the start here in the PNW because there were such massive trees. This area has pictures of such houses. Makes sense, yes?

Such beautiful photographs your channel has certainly come a long way very well done

Cannot remember the nursery rhyme that the characters lived in tree but that thought of living in a tree has always stuck with me & I am 75 this month of March. I never knew pioneers or folks in the old days lived in tree stumps. Great video.

The music of this episode is beautiful absolutely beautiful.

I am 47 years young and I have never heard of a stomp house. You can learn something new about yester year even at this time of life. It just makes me sad what we have done to this world we will never see trees like that. I know where James got the idea for home tree now...

Wow never heard of stump houses pretty cool!

This is so surreal! I had no idea people used stumps like this. It sounds more like fairytales about leprechauns than real history.

🎵Take all the trees…put ‘em in a tree museum…and they charge all the people a dollar’n a half just to see’um!”🎶 So true, Joni! Only these days it’s more like $14.95!

Phenomenal ingenuity and hard work put into making these incredibly strong weather withstanding homes. I mourn for the beautiful insanely huge trees that were cut down. I'd not heard of stump houses before but what amazing wee family homes ❤

It makes me so sad that these beautiful trees were felled but I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO LIVE in a "Stump House".

Some of those are just beautiful. Id live in one.

If they dug out a basement for say, a celler. Guess that'd be called a Root celler

"Sweetie, their be someone knocking at the front door" "Na, it's just a woodpecker"

I had no idea Chestnut 🌰trees could grow that big! 😮 😎

🔥is that ever awesome🔥👊🔥🏍⚙️🔨🪵