HISTORY: The Nurses Cabin was built in the 1940's by
two young women, Vera Liebel and "Doug" Barnsley, who were employed
as nurses at the Libby and Libby cannery, at the mouth of Kasilof River.
While working at the cannery they envisioned living in the
Tustumena Lake region and with the help of a local trapper, "Windy"
Wagner, they built this cabin on the shores of Tustumena Lake.
If you have information, photographs or stories regarding
this cabin, (or any other cabins) please contact the Kenai National Wildlife
NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION: The Nurses cabin is a one-story log
cabin consisting of a single rectangular room and an arctic entry. The
cabin is located within the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on the shores of
Tustumena Lake. The Nurses cabin condition is classified as standing
"fair" with some alteration since construction.
The Nurses cabin is built of spruce logs cut in the area by
ax and crosscut saw. The cabin is approximately 72 feet from the shore of
Tustumena Lake. The foundation of the cabin consists of sill logs placed
directly on the ground without a prepared foundation. The outside
dimensions of the single room cabin are 12 feet wide by 14 feet long. An
arctic entry is located on the facade (west) elevation and the outside diameter
is 7 feet 9 ½ inches wide by 7 feet 3 inches long. The arctic entry has a
door opening on the south elevation and does not have any window
openings. The round spruce logs have been peeled of all bark. The
logs diameter average 6 ½ inches at the butt end and 5 ½ inches at the
tip. The cabin is chinked with native moss. The logs are joined at
the corners with a false corner notching called a round corner post. The
facade and east elevations have approximately 19 courses of logs and the north
and south elevation have approximately 15 courses of logs, all set
horizontally. The arctic entry is built out of a combination of vertical
split logs, horizontal logs, and sawed boards.
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