Banner Log Cabin

After the Great Fire of 1881, which destroyed a good portion of the remaining timber in the Thumb Area, many stalwart residents were quick to rebuild.  Henry Patten and his sons, James and Elias, built this little cabin from the trees left standing on their land near the long-forgotten settlement of Banner, four miles west of Deckerville.  Some of those trees exhibited charring from the inferno.

In the 1970's, the cabin was donated by Donald Medcoff and his mother, Margaret.  Four generations of their family had resided in the log structure after the Patten family had moved on.  A Michigan State Bicentennial Grant aided in the funding to relocate and restore the Banner log cabin.  Volunteer George Lawson was the project manager.

The little building is furnished with donated antique items that would have typically been found in an 1880's-era settler's cabin.