Neilsen Log Cabin

Neilsen Log Cabin. . , The log cabin was originally a weekend retreat for the Neilsen family and when they decided to sell the land the cabin was not included as the family wanted it kept intact. It was located on Campground and 29 Mile road in Washington Township and was offered to the Washington Historical Society first, but they did not have anywhere to put it, so we were fortunate enough to obtain the building and had it moved here in 2005. The wood burning and cook stove and some other items from the cabin were donated to the Washington Museum. , , Bob Neilsen's family also had annual get togethers there. There was a fifty foot flagpole outside the front door. The cabin wa a made to order by the Pioneer Log Cabin Company in Roscommon. It was built in 1939 when Bob was 9 years old. His Dad, Cortland, put in the foundation, then in one day the Pioneer Log Cabin Company put up the logs (no nails) it was all tongue and groove. All the logs were marked with numbers so they would know where they went. They put up the walls and the rafters with sledge hammers. His dad put up the roof boards, the entire interior and partitions. Bob's cousin and her husband painted the interior with 5 coats of varnish. Bob's dad was a salesman and lived in Detroit, the cabin was about 45 minutes away and they could use it to get away. The high shelf in the kitchen was so the kid's didn't touch the kerosene lamps at night. On Sunday's the family would go to the cabin for picnics. Sometime the St. Peter's Danish Lutheran Church in Detroit would have picnic's there and they would borrow chairs from the undertaker in Romeo. There was never any electricity in the cabin, they had an icebox and a wood burning cook stove in the kitchen. There was a 10 foot table in the living room with 2 benches made out of 1 log and an overhead lamp hanging from the beam over the table. They could sleep 4 in the bedroom and with an army cot, 2 more in the living room. When his mother became a widow in 1947 she and her 2 sisters, who were dress makers in Detroit, would come out and stay a week or so. , , There was a strap, from one of the Detroit streetcars, hanging from the wagon wheel in the ceiling of the spiral outhouse to help you get up, if you needed it. His dad called on London Dairy in Port Huron and he saw a spiral outhouse on Gratiot on his way to Port Huron, possibly in Muttonville. , , The pump house exterior was constructed so the cows couldn't get in. , , The stone work was done by a Free Methodist Minister from a church in Romeo. , , The church he built in Romeo is still standing.