1836 Heritage Log Cabin
"Oldest in the Calumet Area"

It was in 1979 that the real log cabin was discovered under two layers of siding, on River Oaks Drive.  It was soon to be torn down to build a mini-mall.

That was all the incentive needed to get the members of the Society interested.  The cabin owner, Mrs. Evelyn Jackson, grand-daughter of Peter Nicolaus Schrum, donated the building to the Society.  It was dismantled, logs and boards numbered, and stored in the city garage for one and a half years.  Eventually, the Park District donated a section of Veteran's Park to the Society and work began to rebuild the cabin, with the help of many interested members and friends who donated many hours of their time.  The project was finished with the generous contributions of local businesses and individuals.

Today, the cabin stands surrounded by trees, nestled on the banks of the Little Calumet River, one half block west of Burnham Avenue just off Heritage Drive, (166th Street).

Cabin History

Thomas Agge Schrum, a widower and his son, Peter Nicholas Schurm applied for papers sailing from Hamburg, Germany to America in 1860.  Peter Nicolaus had a wife and child.  Their departure was delayed on account of the Civil War in the United States.  They were farmers and came to America to find work.  They came to Chicago where Thomas Agge bought land from Owen McFarland and came to live in Globe, IL.

There is no record if the log cabin, which was the first part of their home, was there originally or if the Schrum family built it.  According to Wilburt Hasbrouck, a well-known preservationist-architect that the Calumet  City Historical Society contacted, estimated that the lower part of the cabin was built in the 1830's and judging from the saw marks, the upper portion of the cabin was built in the 1860's.  The lower part was used as a kitchen-living room and the upper part for sleeping.  The upper room was reached by a ladder.  Later on additions were added as the family grew.  One of the additions on the west side was for bedrooms and another on the north was a large front room.

One of Peter Nicoulaus's sons, Thomas Henry, tore the old home down in 1929, saving the original log cabin and had it moved to the east of his home, where it remained until it came to the attention of the Calumet Historical Society.