Kennicott Cabin, Westcliffe, CO (2)
**Kennicott Cabin** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 97000046, date listed 2/14/1997
63161 CO 69
Westcliffe, CO (Custer County)
The Kennicott Cabin is located on the west side of highway 69, three miles north of the town of Westcliffe. The cabin is a two-story, rectangular plan, log construction with a side gabled roof covered with wood shingles. The nominated parcel of land includes the cabin, a privy, a large multi-room shed, and a corral. The property appears much as it did when first constructed.
One of the geologically oldest ranges in the state, the Wet Mountains were once hunting ground of the Ute Indians and were crossed in 1806 by Zebulon Pike. The first permanent settlers to the Wet Mountain Valley arrived in 1869. Along with Elisha Horn, John Taylor and William Vorhis, two brothers also came. Frank and George Kennicott, both suffering from tuberculosis, had been told of "a wonderful, high, unspoiled valley in southern Colorado." Their health improved and they started a drayage business and began speculating in cattle.
It is believed that between 1869 and 1870, Frank constructed the two story log cabin. In 1871, Frank and George Kennicott returned to Illinois, where they both found wives. Frank married Mary Thorpe and brought his new bride back to the ranch. In August 1872, a daughter, Mary Louise Thorpe Kennicott, was born in the two-story log cabin. Three days later, the mother died of childbed fever.
A distinction is usually made between log houses and log cabins. A cabin has walls of timbers that have been left round and are joined by overlapping saddle notches. These walls are difficult to chink and for this reason cabins were generally considered to be temporary shelter. Cabins are usually one room and not more than one or one-and-a-half story. A log house has walls of square-hewn logs joined by carefully hewn comer notching. Although Kennicott built his home with the logs left round, the interior surfaces were hewn and then covered with muslin and wallpaper. With its interior finishing and the two-story height, Kennicott’s home is best classified as a log house. (1)
References (1) Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...
Kennicott Cabin, Westcliffe, CO (2)
**Kennicott Cabin** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 97000046, date listed 2/14/1997
63161 CO 69
Westcliffe, CO (Custer County)
The Kennicott Cabin is located on the west side of highway 69, three miles north of the town of Westcliffe. The cabin is a two-story, rectangular plan, log construction with a side gabled roof covered with wood shingles. The nominated parcel of land includes the cabin, a privy, a large multi-room shed, and a corral. The property appears much as it did when first constructed.
One of the geologically oldest ranges in the state, the Wet Mountains were once hunting ground of the Ute Indians and were crossed in 1806 by Zebulon Pike. The first permanent settlers to the Wet Mountain Valley arrived in 1869. Along with Elisha Horn, John Taylor and William Vorhis, two brothers also came. Frank and George Kennicott, both suffering from tuberculosis, had been told of "a wonderful, high, unspoiled valley in southern Colorado." Their health improved and they started a drayage business and began speculating in cattle.
It is believed that between 1869 and 1870, Frank constructed the two story log cabin. In 1871, Frank and George Kennicott returned to Illinois, where they both found wives. Frank married Mary Thorpe and brought his new bride back to the ranch. In August 1872, a daughter, Mary Louise Thorpe Kennicott, was born in the two-story log cabin. Three days later, the mother died of childbed fever.
A distinction is usually made between log houses and log cabins. A cabin has walls of timbers that have been left round and are joined by overlapping saddle notches. These walls are difficult to chink and for this reason cabins were generally considered to be temporary shelter. Cabins are usually one room and not more than one or one-and-a-half story. A log house has walls of square-hewn logs joined by carefully hewn comer notching. Although Kennicott built his home with the logs left round, the interior surfaces were hewn and then covered with muslin and wallpaper. With its interior finishing and the two-story height, Kennicott’s home is best classified as a log house. (1)
References (1) Nomination Form s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg...