After standing for more than a decade, the Thoreau House cabin on Ferrum College’s campus has burned down.The fire and loss of the cabin were discovered on May 20.“The fire was discovered when one of the members of the Ferrum College Campus Police saw black smoke, investigated, and called in the fire department,” Ferrum College Communication Manager Krystal Davis said in a Thursday email to The Franklin News-Post. The cause of the fire remains under investigation and anyone with information is encouraged to contact Franklin County Fire Marshal at 540-483-3091. Construction starting in 2007 as part of a three-week “e-term” course led by English Professor John Kitterman, the Thoreau House was modeled and named after the Walden Pond cabin near Concord, Massachusetts where Henry David Thoreau lived between 1845 and 1847.The Thoreau House allowed students to connect with nature literature like “Walden,” the book Thoreau wrote during his stay at Walden Pond. “The cabin was used by some members of the faculty to teach classes at times and the cabin is on the far side of the 700-acre campus in the woods,” Davis said.
Ferrum College's Thoreau House burns in fire
Like Thoreau’s, the college’s cabin included a fireplace, a bed, a table, and three chairs. Assistant Professor of History Michael Hancock-Parmer sometimes utilized the cabin to teach classes to Ferrum College students.
After the May 20 fire, only the remains of the Thoreau House's fireplace and chimney are left standing.
Ferrum College students in Professor of English M. Katherine Grimes’ ENG 205 - American Literature I class attended a lecture at the Thoreau House, taking advantage of the beauty and nature on the college campus and participating in learning outside the four walls of the classroom.
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