One week left to win!

Our entries for "show us your inner Little House" have been so great thus far!

Precious girls...Laura would be so proud

Darling! Love the color on this one...

Great pic! LOVE the bare feet!


Gorgeous dress...Ma would have been jealous...

And a fine silversmyth of our time period would definitely have been from Spain...AND male...

Have YOU entered our contest to win four tickets to Little House on the Prairie, the Musical at Bass Hall yet? You only have one more week!

To enter, send us a photo or video showing your frontier spirit. You can e-mail it, Tweet it, or post it on our Facebook wall. Time's running out!

Contest runs through June 2nd. A winner will be chosen at random and notified on June 3. Entrants must be 18 or older (although gratuitous use of adorable minor family members in your entry is encouraged). Log Cabin Village and Bass Hall staff and volunteers and their families may not enter the contest. Other restrictions may apply. All submissions will be posted on our social media sites. This contest is made possible by the cooperative marketing partnership between the City of Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village and Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. (at Bass Hall).

Fore! And furlough...

Image from allthingsgolf.com

As a reminder, the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial professional golf tournament is taking place across the street from Log Cabin Village. This means that traffic in the area will be more congested than normal and Log Cabin Village Lane will be closed to thru traffic until Sunday evening (May 30). We're still here and ready to see you, though! Just be sure to access our parking lot from the University Drive entrance.

Due to City of Fort Worth budget cuts, Log Cabin Village and most City facilities will be closed for furlough on Friday, May 28. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to seeing you at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 29!

Contest--Show us your inner "Little House!"

Do you secretly wish that you could wear braids like Laura? Did you cry when Jack died? Do you have dreams that involve Pa, a fiddle, and Ma making johnnycakes on the stove? Then THIS contest, sponsored by the cooperative marketing partnership between the City of Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village and Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. (at Bass Hall) is for YOU!

Your prize? Four tickets to Little House on the Prairie, The Musical, featuring Melissa Gilbert as "Ma" on June 8th--opening night at Fort Worth's Bass Hall!

Grab your bonnets, aprons, knitting, and needlework! We want to see your "Little House" side: frontier spirit, Ma's home cookin', and hands that are never idle.

To enter, please send us your photo or video of you showing us your pioneer spirit just the way Laura and the rest of the Ingalls family did. You can e-mail us, share it on our Facebook page, or tweet it to us.

Contest starts NOW and runs through June 2nd. A winner will be chosen at random and notified on June 3. Entrants must be 18 or older (although gratuitous use of adorable minor family members in your entry is encouraged). Log Cabin Village and Bass Hall staff and volunteers and their families may not enter the contest. Other restrictions may apply. All submissions will be posted on our social media sites. This contest is made possible by the cooperative marketing partnership between the City of Fort Worth's Log Cabin Village and Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. (at Bass Hall).

The history of the past...

Like most museums, Log Cabin Village maintains archival collections consisting of documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera related to our mission (19th century Texas). We also keep archives related to the Village itself, such as records of special events, cabins being moved in, and particularly noteworthy news stories. While we actively collect the information as we see it, we are also fortunate often to inherit the personal "Village archives" held by dedicated staff and volunteer members when they pass.

Recently we received a wonderful file folder filled with 1960s-1970s newspaper clippings related to the Village. These clippings document everything from a school visit to the work of a resident wood carver. What a treasure!

Here are a couple of my favorites:

This clipping, dated February 15, 1974, shows the Shaw Cabin right after it was converted to a working grist mill. We've been grinding corn in it ever since!

Caption: SPINNING WHEEL--A water-powered grist mill will open tomorrow in Log Cabin Village in Forest Park. Opening is set for 1 p.m. Visitors to the city park will be able to watch corn being ground in the mill, after which it will be offered for sale. Old spinning wheels also will be in operation during the day. Admission to the park is 25 cents for adults, 10 cents for children. Sitting by the water wheel is park curator Mrs. Betty Erie.

I don't have a date for the following clipping, but given its reference to the bicentennial "next year" and the jaunty Colonial (rather than frontier pioneer) costuming, it must be sometime during 1975. Who knew that you could gather vegetables, churn butter, and admire a stereoscope all at the same time? Must be the power of the mob caps...

Caption: BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION--Three members of the Texas Girls Choir, from left, Karen Jerigan, Lisa Beckner, and Daphne Eley, will be seen in the choir's upcoming spring concert at 8 p.m. Saturday in Convention Center Theater. The girls are in the Pickard Cabin at Log Cabin Village in Forest Park. The theme of the concert will be the nation's 200th birthday next year.

Both clippings are from the Star-Telegram...

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Hey! Remember all the fun we had planting last month at our special event? Well look at those little seeds NOW!

Good thing we had y'all to help us!

Celebrate May at Log Cabin Village

May is almost upon us, and we've got some exciting events to keep you entertained!!

P.S. Little House on the Prairie: The Musical is coming to Fort Worth in June. Stay tuned for details about our exciting collaboration!

May 8, 2010
DUTCH OVEN COOKING
1-4 p.m.
Join us for an encore dutch oven cooking demonstration by our friends, the Prairie Dogs (Lone Star Dutch Oven Society)! Cost is regular Village admission. No reservations required.

May 14, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: My Little House 1-2-3 and Going West by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Enjoy some legendary Little House stories rewritten for little pioneers. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

May 15, 2010
STRIKE WHILE THE IRON’S HOT!
1-4 p.m.
Experience life before hardware and lumber stores! See the blacksmith hand-forge unique creations, take a turn working wood at the shave horse, and watch trained cooper (barrel/cask/bucket maker) Dan Tatum and members of the Woodturners of North Texas at work. This day is for do-it-yourselfers! Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 fee to make a wooden mallet to take home.

Staff and visitors get All Sown Up!

Wow! What a beautiful day here at Log Cabin Village! Our staff, volunteers, and visitors plowed, planted, washed clothes, played with toys, cooked over an open fire, and made paper flowers to celebrate spring planting! A VERY SPECIAL thank you goes out to the Greater Fort Worth Herb Society for providing such wonderful care and information about our herb garden today.

Here are some photos. Please click on any photo to enlarge and/or control the speed of the slideshow.