In 1839, the Reverend Benjamin T. Kavanaugh of Ohio was sent to the Dakota village of Kaposia … which was located where the Swift and Company plant stood until recently. Because of problems with Chief Little Crow of the Dakota tribe, he moved across the Mississippi River to establish a mission. Between 1839 and 1840, he built this two-story log house in the forest at Red Rock. The upper level was used as the family residence, and the lower level was the meeting house and school. The logs for the house were cut from what is now Seventh Street and Jackson in Saint Paul, and floated down the river.

While living in this log cabin at Red Rock, the Kavanaugh’s infant daughter died of diphtheria. Tragedy struck again when their son fell into the river and drowned … when he went to get a pail of water for his mother.

Five days later, an Indian found the body near Red Wing and brought it back and helped bury it beside his sister.

Reverend Kavanaugh served as a missionary to the Indians for four years, and then the mission was abandoned.

In 1908, the log cabin was moved into the Red Rock Park Camp grounds in Newport. Many persons remember the log cabin which stood near the hotel during this era when so many people attended the Red Rock Camp meetings. While on the camp grounds, the log cabin had a porch around it … which made it look quite different than it does today.

The second move of the log cabin took place about 100 years after it was originally built. In 1939, the Red Rock Camp was moved to a new location at Mission Farms on Medicine Lake … which is now in Plymouth (a western suburb of the Twin Cities). The log cabin (and the sacred Red Rock) were a part of the move when the camp relocated.

The third move of the log cabin occurred on July 12, 1969, when it was brought to its present location on the grounds of Newport United Methodist Church. It was taken apart for the move … the logs numbered, and then later reassembled. A historic marker was later placed beside the log cabin … marking it as the oldest Methodist building in the State of Minnesota.

A special service was held on April 29, 1990, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the building of the log cabin.