- Coordinates
- 45.7036° N, 85.5633° W
- Concepts
- heritage
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
The cabin standing here predates Feodor Protar and was not built by him. It is a hand-hewn white pine log structure, about 32 by 16 feet, built around 1860 by an unnamed earlier Irish settler.1 Protar first visited Beaver Island in 1887, driven into St James harbor by a storm; he summered here from about 1888 to 1892, took up permanent residence in 1893, and bought the already-standing “old cabin” rather than building it, living in it until his death in 1925.12
The June–July 1970 Beaver Beacon records an earlier preservation campaign for the home and the older Bonner farm across the road. That campaign is modeled separately at Historic-preservation campaign for Protar Home and Bonner farm (1970); the article does not establish a grant, deed, or final designation.
The August 1970 report adds a concrete near-term repair plan: the Society said it had raised enough for a new roof and intended to have a contractor install it in the fall, while acknowledging that broader restoration still required much more funding. The report does not establish that the roof work was completed.
Open questions
- The identity of the c.1860 Irish settler who built the cabin is not established from sources consulted.
- Protar’s own birth and death dates, and his birth name, are separately contested; see Feodor Protar for that discrepancy, not repeated here.
- The date of the 1971 new roof and porch, and of the cabin’s transition to Beaver Island Historical Society museum stewardship, are asserted in project research notes but not independently corroborated against a primary source here.
Footnotes
-
“Feodar Protar Cabin,” Wikipedia, retrieved 2026-07-31, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feodar_Protar_Cabin. ↩ ↩2
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Beaver Island Historical Society, “Feodor Protar’s Home on Beaver Island,” retrieved 2026-07-31, https://www.beaverislandhistory.org/protars-home/. ↩
Sources
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, reference number 72000604.Listing location and reference number.federal · layers · nrhp_points
- "Feodar Protar Cabin," Wikipedia, retrieved 2026-07-31.States the cabin was "constructed by an Irish settler in about 1860" and that Protar "chose for his house" this pre-existing structure; gives dimensions (about 32 by 16 feet) and wall material (square-hewn white pine logs, flat-notched corners).
- "Feodor Protar," Wikipedia, retrieved 2026-07-31.States Protar moved to Beaver Island permanently in 1893, used here for the distinction between his residence and the cabin's earlier construction. See [[person/feodor-protar]] for his separately contested birth/death dates.
- Beaver Island Historical Society, "Feodor Protar's Home on Beaver Island," beaverislandhistory.org, retrieved 2026-07-31.States Protar "settled on Beaver Island in 1893" and "bought an old cabin on Sloptown Road"; does not name a builder or construction date, consistent with the cabin predating him.
- Beaver Beacon, June–July 1970, “Historical Preservation on Beaver Island.”Reports that Dr. Protar’s home and an older Bonner farm across the road were documented and being pursued for preservation through state contacts and possible National Register matching funds; it does not establish the campaign’s outcome.
- Beaver Beacon, August 1970, “Beaver Island Historical Society.”Reports that the Historical Society had raised enough for a new roof and planned to have a contractor install it in the fall, while stating that much more money would be needed for restoration; it does not prove the roof work occurred.
- Beaver Beacon, August–September 1971, “Beaver Island Museum Report.”Reports that the Historical Society had completed a new roof and front-porch repairs while saying caulking, summer-kitchen work, and other restoration remained; it does not identify the contractor, cost, exact date, or final condition.