Built in the early 1840’s by Andrew McSelland Couey, this log house was one of the earliest pioneer homes in Chattooga County. Constructed of huge logs hoisted into place and carved into half dovetail ends as the land was cleared, it came to represent the craftsmanship and lifestyle of the early pioneers of north Georgia. Originally located nearly seven miles away in Dirt Town Valley near Tidings, Georgia, it stood at the center of a profitable 400 acre farm of corn, cotton, and livestock occupied by Andrey and Fereby Couey and their family. During the War Between the States, Union soldiers passing through the area depleted supplies, and the family also suffered the death of their son Andrew Jackson Couey in Virginia on November 1, 1861, while serving with the Confederate Army; their younger son, Eli Couey, served in Company B, 9th Georgia Infantry throughout the war and was present at the surrender at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865. These losses were especially striking because Chattooga County, with very few slaveholders, had voted against secession from the Union at the Secession Convention in Milledgeville, Georgia on January 19, 1861. Also known as the Couey-Owings-Knowles House, it remained Andrew Couey’s home until his death in 1882, became the home of his granddaughter Flora Couey and her husband William H. Owings in 1904, and later passed through subdivision and sale of the farm before its last private ownership by Billy Knowles. Acquired by the Georgia Department of Transportation when widening of U.S. Highway 27 required the original site, only the original log structure was moved beginning in 1995 to Dowdy Park in Summerville. After being saved from complete loss by the Summerville Fire Department in 2005, it was restored again, with the preacher porches removed so the front porch extended across the full width of the structure, returning the facade to its early 1900’s appearance as remembered by Chattooga County Historian Robert S. Baker. Since 1998, it has been maintained by the City of Summerville, with continued assistance from the Chattooga County Historical Society in preservation, furnishing, and documentation of its history.