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log cabin reveals how early settlers lived. |
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This one-and-a half story structure was built
by Jedediah Hyde, Jr. circa 1783. Made of 14- to 18-inch diameter cedar logs, the cabin consists of one 20' x 25' room, with a massive fireplace at one end and an overhead loft.
In 1945, the Vermont Historical Society acquired
the cabin, moved it about two miles to its present
location, and stabilized it for further restoration.
In 1952, the cabin was turned over to the Vermont
Historic Sites Commission and the stabilization was
completed by the Department of Forests and Parks.
An agreement with the newly formed Grand Isle County
Historical Society allowed that organization to furnish
the cabin and use it as a meeting place, museum, and
local information center. In 1985 further restoration
of the cabin was undertaken by the Vermont Division
for Historic Preservation, the successor to the Historic
Sites Commission. This work included the reconstruction
of the original roof proportions which returned the
cabin to its original, documented appearance. The
cabin is owned and maintained by the Vermont Division
for Historic Preservation.
HISTORY OF CAPTAIN JEDEDIAH HYDE, JR.
Jedediah Hyde, Jr. was born
in Norwich, Connecticut in 1761. His father, Captain
Jedediah Hyde, later became a prominent resident of
a town which
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| In
1945, the cabin was moved to its current location. |
was named Hyde Park in his honor.
Captain Hyde fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill, then
joined Captain William Coit’s Connecticut Grenadiers.
The younger Hyde was in school at the time of the Battle
of Lexington and Concord, but like many of his generation,
enlisted at the age of fourteen, joining his father
in the Connecticut Grenadiers. Jedediah Hyde, Jr. served
in various capacities during the war. One of his assignments
was in Captain Rufus Putnam’s Corps of Engineers, where
he undoubtedly learned something about surveying. At
Bennington, from among the spoils of war, he was given
a surveyor’s compass and a theodolite which he would
use later in surveying Grand Isle and other parts of
Vermont.
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A
thorough stabilization project in 1945 preserved
the cabin for future generations. |
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In the summer of 1783, Jedediah
Hyde, Jr. and his father came to Grand Isle as surveyors
of the island. Four years earlier Ira and Ethan Allen
had modestly named the island “The Two Heroes,” and,
with Governor Thomas Chittenden, parceled out grants
to the Green Mountain Boys. Most of the grantees sold
their rights and Captain Hyde purchased several parcels
on what would later be called Grand Isle. These deeds
are in the office of the South Hero Town Clerk and were
recorded June 12, 1783. On one of his father’s parcels,
Jedediah, Jr. built this cabin, which served as a home
to various members of the Hyde family for nearly 150
years. The original site was approximately two miles
southwest of the cabin’s present location.
In the cabin today are maps
of the county’s original grants, furnishings from
the cabin and other homes in the county, agricultural
and household implements from the area, and other
items relating to the history and settlement of Grand
Isle.
HOURS
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The Hyde Log Cabin is open July 4 through mid-October,
Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m.
(802) 828-3051
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| ADMISSION |
Adult
$2.00
Children 14 and under, free |
| NEARBY
AMENITIES |
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| HOW
TO GET THERE |
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 Hyde
Log Cabin State
Historic Site
228 US Route 2
Grand Isle, VT 05458
The site is located on U.S. Route 2, just north
of the village of Grand Isle.
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