Public Gets Rare Peek inside Palmer Park Log Cabin

By Karen Hudson Samuels/Tell Us Detroit

DETROIT (Tell Us Det) - An historical gem of Detroit history opened to the public over the weekend for the first time in over 30 years.

The Palmer Park Log Cabin, built in 1885 as the summer home of Senator Thomas Palmer and his wife Lizzie Merrill Palmer, was open to the public Sunday afternoon, a rare treat for the crowds who found the their way to the cabin nestled in a wooded area off Woodward and Merrill Plaisance.

Families and people of all ages turned out to get an up close up view of how a founding family of Detroit lived over a hundred years ago. People of Palmer Park organized the event in conjunction with Michigan Log Cabin Day to raise money for restoration of the cabin and surrounding grounds.

Actors dressed in late 19th century attire, portraying the Palmers, greeted visitors entering the log cabin with it rustic exterior. Inside people found a Victorian style interior with stained glass windows, a massive fire place in the living room and in the kitchen, a wood burning stove.

During its heyday, Senator Palmer enjoyed taking dignitaries and politicians to his log cabin and farm, traveling by horse cart from downtown Detroit for picnics and fireworks displays. All his events were open to the public.

The Palmer family would later donate the cabin, the surrounding 140 acres of and a man-made lake to the city of Detroit in the 1890’s for a public park.

The Palmer Park Log Cabin stayed open until 1979, when the city closed the structure and turned over it antiques and collectibles to the Detroit Historical Society for safekeeping.

People of Palmer Park, a neighborhood group, organized the weekend tours and festivities to share their plans to restore to the log cabin and farm land for public use. They are partnering with the City of Detroit and local businesses to raise funds.

A spokeswoman for the group said they have already winterized the structure and put in protections from “critters that were making it their home”.

Repair or replacement of the log cabin’s roof is a first priority that would cost an estimated $20,000; a complete overhaul of the cabin and it grounds time would run between $150,000 and $200,000. For more information on the People of Palmer and their plans, visit there website. http://peopleforpalmerpark.org