New Structure Tells the Story of Historic St. Cloud Cabin

ST. CLOUD -- A log cabin that once stood in Heritage Park in St. Cloud has a new home -- or at least some parts of it does. Mayor Dave Kleis held a dedication ceremony Wednesday for what is known as the Barney Overbeck cabin which has been returned to Riverside Park.

The cabin dates back to 1855, one year before the city was incorporated. It has been moved and rebuilt several times over the years and not much of what was left was considered historical in nature.

Kleis says they saved what they could and included some beams in a brand new shelter.

We couldn't rebuild it and salvage it, but we wanted to find at least some aspect of the story, so when we put up this structure we thought why not put it where most people that have been in St. Cloud for a longtime would recognize it being.

The cabin spent the most amount of time in Riverside Park before being removed to make way for the University bridge.

The new spot includes some historical storyboards the tell visitors about the building's significance to St. Cloud.

The first police station, the first hotel, the first police chief's home, the first jail...

The money to build the new shelter and put up the historic markers all came from Costco with the sale of the Heritage Park land.

Kleis says he's a strong advocate of historic preservation in the city.