Come tell....................
Of an old log cabin that has been raised in Southwest Wisconsin, near a small mining town in
rural Shullsburg. This primitive structure dating back to the 1850's will once again tell a story
of a way of life in the early settlements of our state.
As folklore has it, once a cabin was completed a celebration was held. So with a strong
appreciation of old things and old structures, Jerry and Donna Shepherd were glad you could join
them for the 2nd Annual Christmas Celebration.

Mary O'Leary's Cabin
21875 Silverthorn Rd
Shullsburg, Wi




And to make your days in the country, visit Mary O'Leary's Cabin tucked full of handmade folk
art primitives and hand dids!
Tailings Country Store
Mary O'Leary's Cabin
Designed Exclusively for Tailings Country Store by Miner Web Design

Memories of Past Cabin Christmas
Cabin full of:
Antiques,
Primitives,
Make-do's,
Hand-did's
Open on Special Occasions
Directions:
County O North
Left on Silverthorn Rd
Mary O'Leary's Cabin
2nd place on left
Memories of Past Fall Gatherings
Mary O'Leary's Cabin
County O North
Left on Silverthorn Rd
Mary O'Leary's Cabin 2nd place on left
Tel: 608-965-3220
Annual Cabin Christmas
Enter starting street address:

City, State or Zipcode:
Cabin Manager
(On Temporary Leave)
Assistant Manager

Cabin Christmas
Memories 2011
at Mary O'Leary's Cabin!
New Cabin Manager
Mary O’Leary’s log cabin was built near West Bend, Wisconsin some time around 1850.  New settlers, eager to start their life in
the frontier needed shelter quick. Most were skilled in working with logs and timbers.  A simple log cabin was usually the first
structure built on the new homestead.
Logs were felled, then hand hewn. This was the process of flattening two surfaces of the log.  The flat surfaces were set facing
the inside and outside of the building.  In this manner, fewer logs were needed to get the desired wall height.  In between the logs,
chinking was applied.  Chinking is the material stuffed between the logs.  Its purpose was to keep out animals and the weather.
Initially, any available substance worked.  Some materials used were dirt, clay, sawdust, wood shaving, rocks and sod. More durable
cabins and chinking consisting of crude mortar – sand mixed with lime paste or clay.
As time passed, and life became less hard, the outside of the log cabins was often covered over with wood clapboards.  This was
done to keep the building more weather tight and to make the family look more well off, the cabin was either added on to with
additional rooms or the cabin was replaced with new stick built house.  Often the old cabin was then used for other purposes, such
as feed and grain storage, livestock shelter, farm hand housing and machine sheds.  If the roofs were kept in good repair, the log
cabin could last indefinitely.
Although the original purpose of this cabin will never be known for sure, it was probably built for the family’s first residence in the
new State of Wisconsin.  As with most log cabins, it probably saw all possible uses.  It has now found new life in the woods off
Silverthorn Road.
Coming Events
March 9,10,11   Cabin Fever Cure
April 6,7,8
 Jump'n Jack Rabbit Days
May 4,5,6  Bloom'n Branch Days
June 8,9,10   Rally
'Round the Flag
July 27,28,29   Christmas in July
September 14,15,16   Humble Harvest Gathering
October 5,6
,7,8   Jack Frost Days
November 9,10,11 Settler's Christmas
December 7,8,9
   Jolly Olde St. Nick Weekend
Coming March 9,10,11 Cabin Fever Cure