Celebrating Legacy: C-N honors heritage, seventh president with opening of historic cabin

On Monday, Aug. 19, Carson-Newman University held a ribbon cutting for a new campus building that instantly became C-N’s oldest structure. A meticulously restored, two-story cabin offers a glimpse into Carson-Newman’s rich history and honors the legacy of C-N’s seventh president. The event fell on the heels of the University’s launch of “Legacy,” the public phase of the largest comprehensive campaign in its 173-year history.

Just how the cabin came to campus is a story worth telling. In the wake of the Civil War, the University was in grave financial stress. Newly elected as the institution’s president in 1869, President Jesse Baker began an arduous journey – traveling more than 3,500 miles on horseback, as told in published histories, to raise funds in securing Carson-Newman’s future of educating generations of students. The saddlebags in which he kept receipts and money raised from his historic ride remain in the University’s Archives.

Fast forward to 2019 when an 1820s-era cabin was discovered off campus encapsulated and protected in the layers of siding and sheetrock of an existing home. After much research, it was determined to be Baker’s former cabin – the place he resided before, during and following his presidency. After securing the structure, the University committed to preserving the historic relic. Now fully restored, complete with period-accurate antiques, the cabin stands adjacent to C-N’s Fite Administration Building, honoring a president’s legacy of preserving Christ-centered education at Mossy Creek.

“Being blessed to have the opportunity to reconstruct Jesse Baker’s cabin on our campus carries many opportunities for Carson-Newman,” said Kevin Triplett, senior vice president for University Relations. “It allows us to discuss our legacy as an institution, which arguably would not exist today without Jesse’s efforts to save the school. It allows us to honor our heritage and talk about hope for the future, the same kind of hope Jesse carried on his journey. The hope provided by a higher education rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ. And it allows us to provide tours and tell the story time and again of God’s provision for our University.”

The Jesse Baker Cabin will be open to the public in the coming weeks. For more information, visit: www.cn.edu/bakercabin