Sometimes your calling finds you. Other times it takes a little bit of curiosity.
Over a decade ago, Rebecca Hart did something she’d never planned on doing. She started working on a 200-acre property owned by her family. It also happens to be the world’s largest log cabin museum. Now, Hart is the executive director of that property, Hart Square Village in Vale, about a half hour south of Hickory. The land holds over 100 log cabins built from 1760 to 1893 — each one moved to the property and meticulously rebuilt and furnished.
From Nature Preserve to the World’s Largest Log Cabin Museum
When Hart’s grandparents bought the property in 1967, they planned for it to be a nature preserve. That was before one of her grandfather’s patients mentioned a log cabin on his own property in need of preservation. So Dr. Bob Hart decided to relocate the cabin, piece by piece, to the Harts’ land in 1973. It turned out there were other area log cabins that needed help as well.
“They had so much fun moving the first cabin that they decided they wanted to do another and then another, and then it kind of spiraled into a 50-year passion that they had together and they moved 103 historic structures here to this property,” says Rebecca.
Her grandfather and volunteers handled the structures, while her grandmother Becky ensured the cabins were authentically curated and felt like a home, complete with tables set for a meal. Today, there are over 10,000 artifacts. Rebecca says while her grandmother Becky took care of the cabin interiors, her “grandfather was predominantly the one who did the taking down, the numbering of logs, the restoration and the moving.” Some cabins are set up as homes. Other cabins highlight other aspects of village life, like a schoolhouse, animal shed, post office, and workspaces, like a blacksmith, a cotton gin, and a grist mill.
For many years, the village was only open to the public one day a year. Currently, it’s open for members, field trips, workshops, and public events where visitors can experience artisan crafts, cultural foodways, live music, and more. A fall heritage festival complete with 550 volunteers, highlights the work of 400 artisans demonstrating traditional crafts and trades. Christmas in the Village, held in December, features 250 volunteers, 35 open cabins, and 10,000 feet of holiday lights.
Taking Root in Rural
After time away, Rebecca decided to move back for a year to help her family figure out a plan for Hart Square since there wasn’t one.
“[My grandparents] were very spiritual people and they felt like their calling in life was to build it. And it would be someone else’s calling to open it… I never felt that calling until then, you know? And so I’ve been here now for 11 years.”
Those 11 years have included a pandemic, Hurricane Helene, and raising $4 million to build an education center with running water and internet, which opened in 2021.
For Rebecca, spending time on the property growing up was “magical,” which is why Hart Square’s 20,000 yearly visitors include 5,000 children who go there for field trips. This fall, the organization launched an after-school program to teach kids how to play banjo and guitar. As funding comes in, there are plans to add mandolin, fiddle, and period crafts like pottery.
Becoming a Rural Leader
As Rebecca moves forward with Hart Square, she’s staying open to where it heads next.
“I’m a big believer that museums are community spaces. So, you shouldn’t have a 10-year plan. Your community should help influence what that plan is, and it should be like a constant conversation.”
To build her local network, Rebecca joined the Fall 2025 cohort of the Rural Center’s Homegrown Leaders program held in Clyde. Homegrown Leaders is a three-day regional leadership course offered for professionals either living or working in Eastern, Western, and Central North Carolina. The program’s regional focus allows each cohort to focus on specific issues in their geographic area. For Rebecca’s cohort that meant networking with others who had been through almost a year of Hurricane Helene recovery.
“It was cool to have those bright minds in one room to actually be like, ‘OK, this is what recovery is going to look like. This is what we’re going to look like in 10 years,’ Rebecca says. “So, I really liked that. It was nice. It was positive.”
Rebecca signed up because “I think it’s super important to have an advocacy group for those of us who run small businesses in rural areas. We’re honestly just not included in a lot of conversations. And so I wanted to go because I wanted to meet other people who do similar community work to what I do.”
Living in such a small town means, “I don’t have other leaders to bounce my ideas off of. I don’t have someone to help counsel me on the mistakes I’ve made, and I just wanted to be around people who had more experience than me.”
While there may not have been an original plan for the village, by taking steps like growing her regional contact list and inviting conversation around Hart Square, Rebecca is making sure that the past is preserved well into the future.
Note: To see videos of the late Bob Hart talking about many of Hart Square Village cabins, visit Hart Square Village’s YouTube channel.
