By: David Clark
The cabin at Hank’s Haven is the site of the current Blue Ridge Mountaineer program. This is the 25th anniversary of the relocation of the cabin at Hank’s Haven to our Reservation.
The current structure started in the late 18th century as a two-story log house built in a “holler” on Black Ridge, near Horse Ridge in the Willis community of Floyd County, Virginia. It was given to members of the Turner family, a free black family, who worked at the Thurman sawmill. For generations, the Turners worked in the logging and timber industry.
The building was disassembled and moved to Willis and later moved to Floyd (the city) when that community was known as Jacksonville. In the 1980’s, the house burned, charring the interior and severely damaging some attached additions (the kitchen which was probably the cause of the fire). The Turners moved into an adjoining mobile home where they still live in 2026.
John Buck bought the house in the late 1990’s. John was a Floyd Scout leader and active on the Blue Ridge Scout Reservation developing the Voyageur Trek program. After the development of the Mountain Man Outpost (now Blue Ridge Mountaineer) at Hank’s Haven, John donated the building to the Blue Ridge Mountains Council and moved it to Hank’s Haven in March 0f 2001.
Of the two-story building, we salvaged one story and constructed the current one story cabin. Involved in the re-building were Chuck Holscher and Graham Simmerman (Council Rangers and Program Director), John Buck, Dave, Nancy, & Becky Clark, and Jon and Phyllis Newbill. Our rangers added the roof and the wraparound porch. This was the first permanent structure at Hank’s Haven since the council acquired the property.
Members of the Covey family lived in a house located at the current campfire circle at Blue Ridge Mountaineer and they had a still near the current Rendezvous cabin and rifle range. The house was gone when I arrived at the Reservation in 1979. We have found parts of the still. Legend has it that a member of the Covey family consumed too much of the moonshine, fell into the fire and perished. The hollow leading north from the current rifle range was called Still Hollow and a trail of that name was built in the opening years of the High Knoll program.