October 17, 2022 |
The so-called “Oldest Cabin in the World” remains fossilized where it sits, near Como Bluffs.
Sharon Biamon is the mayor of Medicine Bow, as well as the director of the Medicine Bow Museum. For almost half a decade, she and the Friends of the Medicine Bow Museum have been waiting for an unnamed contractor to move the Fossil Cabin the seven miles from its current home to the museum grounds.
The Fossil Cabin was built in 1932 by Thomas Boyland. Constructed of almost 6,000 fossils, the building was originally part of a gas station on the Lincoln Highway. After Boylan’s death in 1947, his wife, Grayce, continued to care for the cabin until Interstate 80 was built in the 1960’s. The cabin was sold to the Nash family in 1974.
The Nash family ran a dinosaur museum in the Fossil Cabin until 1992. It sat vacant until Roger Nash donated it to the Medicine Bow Museum in 2018. Biamon said the building was in rough shape.
Pictured above: Fossil Cabin. Photo by Matt Copeland/Bigfoot 99.
Plans to move the cabin to the Medicine Bow Museum were quickly drawn up. A contractor was hired to physically lift the structure off the ground and transport it to the museum grounds. Once there, Biamon said work could begin to preserve the historic monument.
Unfortunately for Biamon and the Friends of the Medicine Bow Museum, the building mover they hired hasn’t made good on their contract. As of the writing of this story, the cabin is still on the ground with large I-beams running beneath it. Biamon wouldn’t comment on the dispute due to it being in litigation. She added that she is obviously disappointed.
The museum director already has a spot picked out for the cabin whenever it arrives at the museum. The Union Pacific Railroad owns the land the museum sits on.
Biamon said she has an agreement to rent the extra land needed for the Fossil Cabin.
All the money raised to move the monument was donated by individuals and several large corporations. Much of that money has already been paid to the contractor for the work that hasn’t been completed.
Biamon said the Fossil Cabin would be a big draw for young people interested in prehistoric life. Robert Ripley of Ripley’s Believe It or Not visited the site in 1939 and dubbed it the “Oldest Cabin in the World”. A fitting moniker, considering its walls are made from life that existed over 200 million years ago. Biamon said people would like the building to remain intact for future generations.
Attorneys are working to resolve the issue with the contractor. Biamon is confident that the Fossil Cabin will be moved. Now, it’s a matter of when and at what added cost.
