Log Cabin Site

Log Cabin Site. . This is the site of the Naper family's log cabin., Captain Joseph Naper of Ashtabula, Ohio visited Illinois in February of 1831 and made his claim on land along the DuPage River. An entrepreneur, Naper intended to establish a thriving community ready to serve growing markets as emigrant settlement pushed west. He hired Stephen Scott of Chicago to clear ten acres and build a log cabin for him on this site before he returned to the area with his wife, Almeda, other family members, and settlers in July of 1831., In 2006-07, an archaeological team excavated the cellar of the Napers' log cabin. They found it measured roughly 16 feet by 16 feet (common dimensions for log structures of the period), and had a cistern to catch rainwater and a chimney to heat the structure. The dig team found over 900 artifacts in the log cabin cellar, including sherds of ceramics, a trade bead, bottle glass, clay tobacco pipe fragments, and nails., The team also uncovered large stones, brick fragments, ash deposits from fires, and assorted household debris. Historical evidence suggests the cellar was filled in during the 1840s, after the Naper family moved into their second home on this site. Until that time, the cabin may have been used as a summer kitchen, stable, or storage.