 The Ruud Cabin
The Ruud Cabin dates to about 1840 and was originally located on the west side of Hwy 31 just north of Four Mile Road. It was set back from the road and not visible since it had been encased by a more modern frame house. Its existence came to light when the Ruud family wanted to clear the property. They offered the house to the Caledonia Fire Department as a training burn down. When it was discovered that a log structure was involved plans changed. The Ruud family offered the cabin to the historical society along with the funds required for its reconstruction. The cabin was dismantled and moved to this site in 2011. Reconstruction was completed June of 2012. We are attempting to determine the original builder of the cabin.
The furnishings are not original to the cabin. The cabin has been furnished to reflect a time during the American Civil War, circa the 1860’s. We chose that era because of the newspaper remnants you see on the wall next to the fireplace. The remnants were found stuffed into a knot hole during reconstruction. It is printed in German and dated to the 1860’s.
This simple cabin would have been home to early settlers. The bed in the corner is a “rope bed”, meaning that a series of ropes strung between the rails supported the mattress. The saying “sleep tight” refers to the need to periodically tighten the ropes. The mattresses at that time would most likely have been stuffed with corn shucks. The parents would have slept in the bed. Infants would sleep near the parents and other children would have slept in the loft with a mattress, if they had one, laying on the floor.
The fireplace would provide heat and be used for cooking. One of the duties of the older children would be keeping the wood box full.