City of Las Cruces Log Cabin Museum

The log cabin dates from the late 1870's, when it was built in the once flourishing mining town of Grafton, New Mexico. Located in the Black Range Mountains, northwest of Las Cruces, it was disassembled and brought to Las Cruces in celebration of the Bicentennial. The cabin once served as a store and post office. When the silver and copper mines quit producing in the late 1800s, Grafton began its slide to ghost town status. The flood of 1957 finally destroyed Grafton. This sturdy log cabin survived only because it was perched on a hillside above the flood waters.

The cabin was built of hand-hewn logs chinked with a mixture of clay, mud, ash and sawdust. The craftsman builder followed a German style pegged and notched construction method. He also showed a fondness for doors--the cabin has four, one on each wall. The doors offered multi-escape routes from both fire and marauders. Small windows cut into each of the doors let in cooling breezes, but also served as gun sites in times of danger.

In 1972 Sid Blakley discovered the abandoned cabin while hunting in the Grafton area. He and his wife donated the cabin to Las Cruces as a bicentennial gift to area children. Marion and Caroline George donated $5,000 to the project and the Las Cruces Home Builders Association disassembled, transported and reassembled the cabin on a corner across from the Branigan Cultural Center. The Home Builders Auxiliary furnished the cabin with furnishings of the 1880s. The log cabin became part of the city's museum system in 1987.

During Heritage Days, the log cabin is the backdrop for living history demonstrations.

City of Las Cruces Log Cabin Museum
P.O. Box 20000
Las Cruces, NM 88001
Phone (505) 541-2155
http://las-cruces.com/html/las_cruces_museums___historic_.html