The Union County Historical Society celebrated a piece of local history on Saturday, May 24, hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the near-200-year-old Collins Cabin that was recently moved and restored on the Mountain Life Museum property in Downtown Blairsville.
Furthermore, the event served as a birthday celebration for F.C. Collins, a Union County resident born in that very cabin 90 years ago this May.
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“This is definitely a special day for a special person at a special event,” said Blairsville-Union County Chamber Board Chair Tony Dyer. “This is a beautiful place, and I’m thankful for all the work they’ve done on the structure.”
It is believed that the Mountain Life Museum at the Butt-Mock House is the cabin’s fourth location, with Collins’ own birthplace marking the second site.
Todd Collins, the nephew of F.C., reports that the second resting spot stood on the property of his childhood home off Pine Ridge Road in the Trackrock community.
It was then relocated by F.C.’s son Troy Collins and family friend Jerry Dyer to the Fain Branch area in the early 1980s, where it was used as a storage shed at Troy’s home before ultimately arriving at its current location decades later.
About a year ago, then-Historical Society President Mickey Cummings received a phone call from Troy and Jerry inquiring if the society had any interest in the cabin.
“I told them yes without even getting it approved by the (Historical Society) board, which is against parliamentary procedure,” Cummings said. “I convinced the board, and that didn’t take much; all I had to do was bring up the idea, and they jumped at the opportunity.”
Cummings, along with others, helped restore the cabin every Saturday after its arrival at the museum. He believes the structure dates to the 1830s based on a unique opening found on the side of the home.
“We don’t think it was a window, we think it was a gun portal, and a gun portal would have been put in sometime around the Indian Removal, which would have been around 1832,” Cummings said.
As noted above, the 16-by-19-foot cabin marks the home where F.C. Collins was born in May 1935 and lived for 14 years alongside his parents Francis Walter Collins and Pauline Thomas Collins, and siblings.
According to F.C., the original home began as a one-room building with a fireplace, after which a kitchen, dining room and bedroom were added.
“The cabin has been moved three times, and my daddy moved it the first time to Pine Ridge Road,” F.C. said. “On the day I was born, May 13, 1935, Doc Kimsey drove a horse and buggy up there to deliver me. We had a good life there.”
Following the ribbon-cutting, birthday cake and punch were provided, while the Collins Family Band performed music to the delight of all in attendance. Old Liberty Baptist Church Pastor Chad Underwood led the opening prayer.
Historical Society President Mike Cook would like to extend a special “thank you” to the following individuals for their contributions to the cabin: Robert Aumak, Bill Pyszka, Bill Thiebus, Curtis Cook, Troy Collins, Mike Gable, Jared Oberman, Rudy Dover, Carl Radford, Jerry Collins, Jerry Dyer, Loy Cook, Glen Henderson, Barney Cook, Darren Reeves, Randy Stiver, Dave Gott, Eddie Partin and Cummings.
