The Brand Log Cabin is an authentically restored, late 1840s log home typical of the size and type built by Madison’s earliest European settlers. The cabin was recovered from a Walworth County homestead with help from the Nature Conservancy and professionally restored on a corner of the museum’s parking lot. Exhibit content has been developed in partnership with area third-grade classrooms as part of a new Madison Metropolitan School District local history curriculum.

Furnished with historical household artifacts and replicas, the cabin offers young visitors opportunity for dramatic play. Children will cook meals on the open hearth, write with quill pens, play historic children’s games, churn butter, try their hands at quilting, and learn about the tools and skills that made life possible for these early settlers. Outside, children will do laundry, haul water, harvest vegetables, try a two-man cross-cut saw or a draw knife, and learn about pioneer medicine in the herb garden.

The cabin is open for scheduled programs only. During the school year, the cabin is open for drop-in activities at the following times: during Little Pioneers (geared toward children 5 and under),  from 2-3 p.m. Thursdays; on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-noon; and on Sundays from 1-3 p.m. Please check our calendar to confirm cabin hours.

This schedule is subject to change due to school group programming, extreme weather, and staffing availability.