We have to report a sad ending to the Chatham County smokehouse in the Chapel Ridge area that we have admired. In September 2022 the huge tree that marked the site split, with a large section falling on the smokehouse. We've added a photo to bring the story up to date. We're glad to have saved a photographic history.

The structure appears to have been built as a cabin and later converted to another use. The floor is dug out so that you'd need to step down to the level of the ground on entering. Several farmers who have seen the photos believe that it was used as a smokehouse. Some tobacco sticks inside suggest that it may have been used to cure tobacco at some point--perhaps for home use.

Old, functional structures such as this one are quickly disappearing from rural North Carolina. Please help us document Chatham's old agricultural buildings by telling us about them and submitting photos. Contact us at preservation@chathamhistory.org.

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