Tuesday, OCTOBER 21, 2025 |
Photo – Fossil Cabin on Highway 30 – By Matt Copeland Bigfoot99
An unexpected setback has delayed the move of the Como Bluffs Fossil Cabin.
Workers preparing to relocate the historic Fossil Cabin to Medicine Bow have discovered that the structure is anchored to a large rock beneath its foundation. The unexpected finding means that the move will be postponed until next spring.
In 1932, amateur fossil collector and entrepreneur Thomas Boylan used more than 5,000 plant and animal fossils to build a roadside attraction promoting his Lincoln Highway fuel station. The Fossil Cabin, as it came to be known, is located roughly seven miles east of Medicine Bow at Como Bluffs.
Seven years after its construction, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! named the Fossil Cabin the “World’s Oldest Cabin” due to its use of fossils dating back 150 million years to the Jurassic Period.
The Fossil Cabin served as a local tourist attraction until the 1960s when construction of Interstate 80 caused the majority of motor traffic to avoid the Lincoln Highway and away from Boylan’s fuel station.
Since that time, the cabin has fallen into disrepair. In 2018, the current owner of the building, Roger Nash, donated the Fossil Cabin to the Medicine Bow Museum.
Aiming to improve access to the Fossil Cabin, the nonprofit Friends of the Medicine Bow Museum hired a contractor to physically lift the structure off the ground and transport it to the museum grounds. Unfortunately, the mover was either unable or unwilling to complete the job, and the Fossil Cabin remains at its original location.
Last year, the Carbon County Visitors Council took notice of the roadside attraction and offered to help arrange the move. A new moving company was hired, and the Fossil Cabin was lifted off its foundation, stabilized for transport, and declared ready to go. Or so it seemed.
During the October 14th Hanna Town Council Meeting, Carbon County Visitors Council At Large Member Mike Armstrong announced that the move was scheduled to take place the following day, October 15th.
However, Armstrong said workers discovered that the Fossil Cabin is still physically attached to the ground. To ensure the fragile structure doesn’t collapse, workers are postponing the move until next spring.
Armstrong said the Fossil Cabin is nearly ready to move, but the project will take more time and money, which the Carbon County Visitors Council has pledged to provide. While the delay has disappointed many, Armstrong stressed that ensuring the building does not collapse during transport is the primary focus.
The governing body of Medicine Bow was notified of the delay the previous day, during the October 13th Town Council meeting. Councilwoman Kristi Wickizer said the building should be fenced off during the winter. Mayor Justin George agreed, fearing that people may fall into the empty foundation hole.
Medicine Bow Fire Chief Wayne Maddox said that the hole had been filled. Councilwoman Wickizer reiterated that the Fossil Cabin should be fenced off, while Treasurer Karen Heath added that doing so would help prevent vandalism.
Mayor George instructed Treasurer Heath to contact the Carbon County Visitors Council and insist that the Fossil Cabin fencing be replaced until the move is complete next year.
