Restoration Celebration at Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters

As they finish their 3-year restoration of the historic Surgeons Quarters Cabin, the Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution invite you to join them for an Open House on Sunday, July 23 from Noon until 3pm.

Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters in Portage will celebrate completion of its log cabin restoration with an open house Sunday, July 23.  The Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution invites the public to this free event, which will take place from noon to 3 p.m.

Activities include self-guided tours with hostesses in the log cabin museum and Garrison School, special artifact displays and a luncheon. DAR challenge coins to benefit the restoration will be available for sale on that day only.
The dedication concludes the third phase of the $270,000 log cabin restoration that began four years ago.
Laib Restoration Inc., a specialty restoration contractor in Oshkosh, has replaced decaying exterior logs with those cut in 2019 from forests in and around Elcho, Wis.  Leading the project was Matt Laib, owner of Laib Restorations, along with his recently retired father, Terry.

“We had these logs grown specifically for this project up in northern Wisconsin, and as we funded each phase, we had them prepare them, dry them out, strip them and (hewn) them into the shape that you can see now,” said Wisconsin DAR Regent Sandra Snow.

She added that it took three years for the tamarack logs to dry.

The U-shaped French colonial-style cabin’s original chinking was removed in 1964-65 and replaced with Portland cement, then believed to be the best product for preserving historical buildings. However, it since has been determined that actually causes decay because the logs cannot expand and contract with moisture. Thus, a more conservation-friendly material was used for the this project.

There were a few surprises during the restoration. For instance, when workers removed a rotted log from the courtyard wall, a spoon, believed to be silver, fell out.

In 2021, restoration of the rear wall of the log cabin and side facing the Garrison School were completed, with the road- and front-facing walls restored the following year. This season’s work, which got under way May 1, concentrated on the courtyard walls.

The restoration’s $270,000 pricetag was covered by fundraising and grants, the most recent being a $7,000 Historic Preservation Grant from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. The criteria for securing this grant focuses on proper upkeep and preservation of historic integrity at sites such as Surgeons Quarters, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

“This is very, very difficult to get because they want to make sure that you will, first of all, be doing something to preserve a historic building, but also be doing it with the intent that you will make sure that it stays in the form that it was,” Snow said. “We’re very, very fortunate and proud that we were able to do that.”
Located at 1824 East State Road 33, Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters is home to two historic buildings: the log cabin, where the U.S. Army surgeons of Fort Winnebago resided from 1834-54, and the Garrison School, a one-room schoolhouse that served local pupils from 1850-1960. 

The sole surviving building from Fort Winnebago, Surgeons Quarters overlooks the site where Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette left the Fox River to portage to the Wisconsin River in 1673. The area of land connecting the waterway was called "wauona" by American Indians in the area, and "le portage" by the French.
The log cabin itself originally was the home of Francois LeRoi, a Métis (of French and American Indian descent) who operated a portaging and fur trading business. Built between 1816 and 1819, it is of French post-and-log construction.

Since purchasing the building in 1938, the Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution has worked toward restoring it to its original form, using plans found in the National Archives in Washington D.C. In 1954, the 4.3-acre property opened as a historic tourist site.

In addition to special events, the Surgeons Quarters is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday from May to Oct. 15. For more information, call (608) 742-2949 or visit www.fortwinnebagosurgeonsquarters.org/.