Fairfield to host Pioneer Day & Crafters Show on May 18

FAIRFIELD – Jefferson County Historical Preservation Commission is hosting a Pioneer Day & Crafters Show at Waterworks Park in Fairfield on Saturday, May 18.

The event will raise money to preserve and rebuild the Bonnifield Cabin at the adjacent Old Settlers Park. The cabin is famous for being the oldest two-story log house in Iowa, built in 1838. The Pioneer Day & Crafters Show will run all day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and feature food trucks, historical demonstrations, a pie-eating contest and handmade craft vendors. The event is free, and attendees are asked to make a free-will donation.

Glenn Hamm of the Jefferson County Historical Preservation Commission said the group is doing this fundraiser because the cabin needs a new foundation, and some of its logs need to be replaced. In fact, they’re planning on dismantling the cabin and rebuilding it. Because this work requires special care, the commission has hired a professional cabin restoration company to do it. In addition to making the needed repairs, the company will also rotate the cabin 180 degrees so it faces the road leading into Waterworks Park.

One of the fun things planned for kids during the fundraiser is a Pretzel Log Cabin Building Exercise, where kids get to build a log cabin from pretzel rods and frosting. The activity is for kids aged 3-8, accompanied by an adult.

The pie-eating contest will begin at 11 a.m. with different contests for each age bracket every 15 minutes. Hamm explained that contestants will put their hands behind their back and try to eat a pie as quickly as they can. The first contest will be for kids aged 5-10, then at 11:15 a.m. kids aged 11-15 will compete. The ladies’ contest will be at 11:30 a.m., followed by the men’s at 11:45 a.m., and finally the open class will be at noon.

That afternoon, experts will demonstrate tools and skills needed on the frontier, such as professional logsman Phil Grossman of Heritage Woodworks Iowa showing how to hew a log for a cabin log building at 1 p.m. Grossman will show how to cut a tree down, strip the bark, and turn it into a log for a cabin. Butter churning will be featured at 2 p.m., then rope making at 3 p.m., followed by candle making.

The Bonnifield Cabin itself will be open for tours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Residents are encouraged to bring a lawn chair. All activity supplies are being furnished by Fairfield Hy-Vee.

Hamm said that after the Bonnifield Cabin’s initial construction in 1838, it fell into disrepair but was rebuilt and moved to its current location by the Old Settlers Association.

According to the Old Settlers Association’s application in 1986 to place the Bonnifield Cabin on the National Register of Historic Places, the cabin was built by Rhodham Bonnifield (1788-1840), his sons and neighbors in Round Prairie Township, south of Lockridge. Most of the Bonnifield family died in 1840 from cholera, but the cabin continued to serve as a residence until 1902. The Jefferson County Old Settler’s Association accepted the building as a gift in 1906, “systematically dismantled it,” and reconstructed it using its original logs in what is now Old Settlers Park, next to Waterworks Park.

Hamm said that, by rotating the log cabin to face the street, it will attract greater interest from tourists, reunions, school tours and the like. Once the cabin is rotated, the historical commission plans to lay a brick walkway to the door.

“We’ll start a brick fundraiser where people can purchase bricks and inscribe whatever they would like,” Hamm said.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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