September 28, 1889 – A team of old-timers begin the construction of two log cabins on the Johnson County Fair Grounds – located near East Iowa City on farmland that, today, hosts City High School.
The construction project all began in 1887 with a creative idea from Iowa City’s well-known tobacconist – Henry (H.J.) Wieneke. Over the next two years (1887-1889), Wieneke’s idea of building one log cabin expanded, so following the 1889 annual reunion, a team of pioneers from the Old Settlers’ Association (OSA) began the construction of two cabins on the Johnson County Fair Grounds.
In 1918, the Fair Grounds had a change in ownership, and as a result of that, it was determined that the 1889 log cabins needed to be removed. It’s at that time when the OSA decided that only one of the cabins – the log “house” – was salvageable. Thus, the one-room cabin – built with hewn logs in 1889 – was moved across the river to City Park – where it stands to this day – next to the double-log cabin, which the OSA built there in 1913.
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