In North Carolina smokehouses or meat houses can be traced as far back as the 1700’s. A small, enclosed shelter that a fire could be kept smoldering for a few weeks, which would slowly release its smoke.  Before refrigeration, the only method for people to preserve meat was by drying or smoking. A smokehouse was needed if one expected to eat pork all year long. This would allow the smoked meat to hang safe from vermin. December, because of its cold temperature was normally the designated month for pig butchering, salting, and smoking. It was marked on the calendar just as planting and harvesting were. Slaughtering the winter pigs was part of the annual agricultural calendar. Here I have pictured an 1805 smokehouse that measures 12ft. by 12 ft. The roof was re-done as part of the renovation of this smokehouse that now sits on a historical landmark in North Carolina. Carefully hand folded 16 oz. standing seam copper roof which totally aligned with the period.