Polly Wood’s ordinary in the Peaks of Otter Recreation Area on the Blue Ridge Parkway

The small log cabin known as Polly Wood’s Ordinary was built in the early 1800s and was run as an inn from around 1832 until the early 1850s by Polly Wood, the widowed owner of the cabin. Originally a Dooley, Polly married Jeremiah Wood in 1796. Wood was a grandson of Thomas Wood, the original settler of the Peaks of Otter area. After Jeremiah’s death, Polly obtained a license to operate an ordinary, which is a British term similar to the word inn. Ordinary derives its name from taking care of the ordinary needs of travelers. Guests could expect a bed, meal, and stable for their horses. This was the first official ordinary in the area, though people often took in travelers to their private homes. Polly eventually closed the ordinary due to her old age and competition with another ordinary run by Benjamin and Leyland Wilkes, who would go on to open the first full-fledged hotel in the Peaks of Otter area in 1857.

The cabin originally sat in what is now the man-made Abbott Lake. It was moved to its current location in 1965. A lake had been envisioned back in 1943, but park architect Stanley Abbot nixed the plan. In the early 1960s, when a new lodge for the area was in the works, the idea for the lake was resurrected. A year after the Peaks of Otter Lodge was completed (1964), the lake was created, ironically being named for the man who never wanted it in the first place. To the best of my knowledge, the cabin is not open to the public on any regular basis, but you are free to stop and take a photo of it.