The linking logs are falling into place for the Cave Spring Cabin, making it one step closer to becoming one of Georgia’s historical sites.

Since local contractor Jesse Hamrick discovered a hand-hewn log peeking out from beneath the weathered wood of the old Green Hotel two years ago, Cave Spring community members have been working tirelessly to renovate the old structure.

Now, the Cave Spring Historical Society has hired professional archaeologist Pat Garrow as field director to excavate several one-square-meter test sites on the cabin property, and a pledge drive to fund the dig has been launched. 

The group has little more than a month to raise $6,400 to fund the cost of the professional excavation. Those who wish to pledge to help meet the costs may write to Cave Spring Historical Society, P.O. Box 715, Cave Spring, Ga. 30134. 

Garrow, who’s had experience with several archaeological digs at the Chieftains Museum in Rome, will be assisted by archaeologist Travis Hurdle of Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn. The project will follow standards of the U.S. Secretary of Interior’s Guidelines for Archaeological & Historic Preservation.

The dig is scheduled for Dec. 17 and will continue through Dec. 21, with demonstrations open for public viewing offered by Garrow.

But the community’s efforts are what will make the dig possible. Volunteers will help with the hand excavation and may schedule work shifts though Peggy Allgood, president of the historical society.

Garrow will supervise all activities and will direct and instruct the volunteer work.

Results of the excavation are expected to help determine the historical facts of the cabin, which several experts suggest may have been built by the Cherokee around the 1820s or earlier.

The results of the tests will provide historical context along with additional documentation that is being assembled throughout the month in order for the state to designate the Cabin as a “historical place.”

The restoration project got under way just as the cabin was named as one of the “2013 Places in Peril” by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

While the deterioration has become almost irreversible, members of the Cave Spring Historical Society are optimistic that the historic treasure can ultimately can be preserved.

For more information about the Cave Spring log cabin or the impending excavation, restoration efforts and how to become a volunteer, contact cabin committee chairman Billy Wayne Abernathy at 707-777-9447 or Allgood at 706-237-1334.