-This is the Robert Cleveland Log House in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Nearly as old as Wilkes County itself, the structure was built around 1779 in the midst of the American Revolution.

But the man who built it didn't just live during that war.

He and his brother fought in one of the most decisive battles of the entire Revolution.

When Robert and Benjamin Cleveland moved to North Carolina, they quickly gained influence.

By 1778, both brothers were appointed as officers to the new county militia.

Benjamin is colonel, and Robert was captain of his regiment.

But after a series of patriot defeats in the South, British Lord Cornwallis marched into North Carolina.

So the call went out to the mountain communities and frontier towns to fight Cornwallis' officer, charged with guarding his left flank, at Kings Mountain on October 7th.

Benjamin personally led the left-wing assault at the head of several regiments.

Robert fought beside him.

Ferguson was shot from his horse.

His troops surrendered, and it was a turning point of the war in the South.

After the war, Benjamin would become the namesake of Cleveland County in 1841.

Robert Cleveland came home to Wilkes County to live out his days.

Today, his house is still standing, carefully preserved as a window into the world those brothers left behind, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Relocated from its original site near Perlier and restored, it opened to the public in 1986 as part of the Wilkes Heritage Museum's collection of historic properties in downtown Wilkesboro.

- Five generations of the Robert Cleveland family lived in this house over 150 years span.

It's one of the very few structures in this area that survives from the late 1700s.

This was a very large house, the fifth largest house in all of Wilkes County.

- The logs would have been roughly 18 to 24 inches in diameter.

Some of them are 30 feet long.

These trees are older than America itself.

- When you walk into the Robert Cleveland Log Cabin, you are gonna walk into what life would have been like in revolutionary times here in Wilkes County.

- This was an Irish soda bread.

- It brings history to life.

It's not just something flat in a book with a name and a place, because that is so very boring.

- The log home is part of a larger complex that includes the old Wilkes Jail and the restored 1902 Wilkes County Courthouse, now home to the Wilkes Heritage Museum itself.

- So those three buildings were each built in three different centuries.

Anything from our county's history could be held here at the museum.

There's something here for everyone.

- It's a good resource center for people who really care about the history and heritage of Wilkes County.

Currently, we're upstairs in our revolutionary room.

This is where we have displays on our back country patriots.

- Through artifacts, images, and exhibits, the museum tells the story of Wilkes County from its earliest settlement through the present day.

- So salt was very important to them, not just for seasoning their food, but also for food preservation.

- Guided tours of the log home run Monday through Saturday and are included with museum admission.

Plan on two to three hours to take it all in.

- People actually built this.

It didn't just appear, and it's not just a museum piece.

Our ancestors were a part of this.

- When you come here and you sit at the cabin, you see the person and not just the hero.

You see him and his family.

And then you realize what courage it took for him and his family to take up their arms and fight the greatest military power in the world.

[light guitar music] - The Robert Cleveland Log House is located on the grounds of the Wilkes Heritage Museum at 100 East Main Street in Wilkesboro.

The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m.

to 4 p.m.

and closed on Sundays.

For more information, call 336-667-3171 or visit wilkesheritagemuseum.com.