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About the log cabin moved from Grafton to Las Cruces, New Mexico
The log cabin moved to Las Cruces once served as a store and post office
in Grafton. When the silver and copper mines quit producing in the 1890's,
Grafton folks mostly moved on. The flood of 1957 destroyed most of
what was left, leaving Grafton a ghost town--but the cabin survived
on a hill above the flood waters. The cabin was built of hand-hewn logs
chinked with a mixture of clay, mud, ash and sawdust using pegged and
notched construction. The cabin has four doors, one on each wall--escape
routes from both fire and marauders. In 1972, Sid Blakley, hunting in the
Grafton area, discovered the abandoned cabin. He and his wife donated
it to Las Cruces as a bicentennial gift. Marion and Caroline George
offered $5,000 and the Las Cruces Home Builders Association moved the
cabin to across from the Branigan Cultural Center.