The Smoke House is the first structure on the tour, still located on its original site. It was built in the late 1800s by Leonhard Summer to help supply his grocery store with smoked bacon, ham, and sausages, this red sandstone smokehouse features racks for hanging meats and a rough wooden door. It is built into a hillside between the Dyer Memorial Chapel and the Summer Brewery. The inside walls are still black from the smoke.
The meat was cured by smoke from burning wood chips. The chips would be chopped from greenwood along with tiny bits of bark and moss. This would cause the fire to smoke slowly. One could smell the smoke coming out through the cracks. When the smoke stopped coming out, the meat would be ready to eat.
