At Left: Wide view of right-front side of loom. Instead of having rockers at the ends of the beater legs, the legs of this loom are pinned to the loom frame with wooden pins which fit through holes in the legs and then into holes in blocks of wood which are attached to the loom frame. At Right: Detailed view inside loom frame (right side of loom). Note the series of four holes in the wood block, which would allow the beater to be adjusted according to the weaver's preference. I photographed this loom while at the Museum of Appalachia documenting loom #18. I thought it was an interesting style; later I realized there may be a connection between it and the rocker beater style.

In the museum literature John Rice Irwin, founder and director of the Museum of Appalachia, says of this loom "The one (loom) located in the McClung House was purchased from the Smith family in Knoxville, after which the suburb of Smithville was named. It is almost identical to those I've found throughout the Southern Appalachian Mountains." It is not known when the Smith family first came to the area, but according to the Tennessee Blue Book the village of Smithville was incorporated in 1843. Museum of Appalachia Return to Loom Photograph Index