The Historic Pap Madison Cabin

The Madison cabin was built in 1876 from cottonwood logs cut along Rapid Creek, squared on the ground, and fitted together with gaps chinked with sticks, moss, grass, and wood chips and sealed with mud for waterproofing and insulation. A cabin of this kind could be built with hand tools in several days if timber was available. Measuring 15 feet square, it gave Pap Madison 225 square feet of living space, originally with a dirt floor and a wood-burning cook stove instead of a fireplace. In 1927, after the cabin was moved to Halley Park, restorers installed a new shake roof, replaced deteriorated logs, added a wood floor, and built a limestone fireplace from stone quarried at nearby Lime Creek. After its move to The Journey Museum in 2012, the cabin was repaired with new chinking, stain, and a new hearth, then refitted with electric lighting and transparent panels so visitors could view the interior. Although none of Pap Madison's personal belongings remain there, the cabin is furnished with objects typical of many log cabins across the northern plains in the late 1800's.

Rapid City, South Dakota · United States