Barton Cabin

This structure is all that remains of the original Bluff fort built upon the arrival of the pioneers in 1880. It is the oldest historic building in Bluff. It contains a well which was the first community water supply.

The cabin was built by Joseph Barton, who was born in Paragonah, Utah and his wife, Harriet Ann Richards. A more recent examination has shown this structure to be made up of three separate cabins which were later joined together. In 1883 when the defensive fort was no longer required most families moved their individual cabins to their own private lots.

Cabins provided temporary shelter during the construction of larger stone houses, and later may have been used as chicken coops and storage sheds. Inside the cabin, the walls and ceiling were lined with a thin white cloth.

A cloth like this was often used to cover the walls of a log house, since it can taken down, washed, and then put back up. Shelves stood along the walls of one bedroom and were filled with books.

Today the Barton cabin represents the sole surviving feature of the earliest architecture of Bluff. It retains the integrity of its original location, design, setting, material, workmanship, feeling, and association.

To take a virtual tour of Bluff's Historic District, click on any of the houses in the map below, or their corresponding names under the map.

A. Decker House
B. Hyrum Perkins House
C. Lemuel Redd House
D. Platte Lyman House
E. Willard Butt House
F. Jens Nielson House and Mill
G. Jens Nielson House
H. Adams House

I. Unknown
J. Scorup House
K. Nick Lovace House
L. Jane Allen House
M. Barton Cabin
N. Kumen Jones House
O. Bluff School / Jail / Library