Shaw Cabin Restoration
Stanley, Idaho is a place where the past and present collide. Horses can be found tied next to the latest Subaru Outback. Newly built cabins shoulder up to old rutted dirt roads. Most Stanley homes have a wood burning stove for heat and a flickering Internet modem for entertainment and communication. It is this paradox that makes Stanley so incredible. It is a modern place colored with thick brush strokes of the past. And Stanley’s past is just as important as its present.
With this in mind, the Sawtooth Interpretive and Historical Association (SIHA) seeks to restore one of Stanley’s oldest structures. The Shaw Cabin is considered to be one of the oldest residences in the entire state of Idaho. It was built in the Sawtooth City in about 1880 by one of the first homesteading families of the Stanley basin. After being transferred to the Fisher Creek area in 1901, it finally ended up at Stanley’s Pioneer Park in 1998 and is part of SIHA’s Historic Walker Tour.
Though the Shaw Cabin is in impressively good shape considering its age, there are a few things that can be done to ensure that it survives another 133 years. SIHA plans to replace the doors and windows, do some restorative carpentry work to both the inside and outside of the cabin, weather-proof the outside of the cabin and erect a plaque that explains the cabin’s history.
The Sawtooth Society appreciates the need to preserve, not only the natural beauty of the SNRA, but also the history of its human inhabitants. Because of this, the Sawtooth Society, through the License Plate Grant fund, is contributing $4,500 toward the restoration of the Shaw Cabin. With this money, and contributions from the City of Stanley and SIHA, the Shaw Cabin will stand for generations to come.
