I lived several places near the Log Cabin Inn. My younger sister, Vicki Presco, married Jim Dundon and they built a geodesic dome on John’s property. Michael Dundon, built a small cabin there as well. He and his wife cooked and bartended at the Inn in the mid-seventies. I lived at the Hub Trailer park across the street. My daughter, Heather Hanson took this pic of me, and I took the pic of her at the Youth Camp the Dundons caretook.
I had a studio in a small cabin at the Hub. I did a painting I sent to Marilyn Reed, who showed it to Ira Cohen, who discovered Christine Rosamond.
John Presco
Welcome to the Log Cabin Inn
The History of the Log Cabin Inn
Historic Pictures
Log Cabin Inn
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Located at the western edge of the Willamette National Forest, the property is nestled along the southern banks of the McKenzie River at the base of the Cascade Mountains on Highway 126. The original Log Cabin Inn, well-known as both a stagecoach stop and a hotel, was built in 1885. After a devastating fire in 1906, it was rebuilt as a near duplicate of the original building that was finished in the fall of 1907. A dining room and saloon addition was constructed, circa 1970 according to the tax assessor’s records. The Inn burnt down again in 2006 and the current cabins were built between 2006 and 2009. There are 22 cabins total on the property, all individually owned.
Large trees such as firs and redwoods tower over the cabins and gardens incorporating the native and non-native vegetation make this property special. The driveway configuration on the east side of the Inn remains the same as it was historically. The historic garage is located to the east side of the property. The structure appears to date to the 1930s, but research has not revealed an exact date of construction. Cabin 14 is from the early 1900s and was recently renovated.
The Log Cabin Inn is listed in the register of historic places. President Herbert Hoover, Clark Gable, and the Duke of Windsor have stayed here. More recently actors Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson stayed on the property while filming a movie near Sahalie Falls.
MILEPOST 51.1
In 1869, John Craig fell two large fir trees across the McKenzie River and covered them with crude puncheons. This wasn’t the first bridge across the McKenzie River, but it was the first bridge constructed so far up river (fifty miles from Springfield). Before this happened, the area that was the last stagecoach stop before attempting the cross the Cascades was called Strawberry Prairie. John Craig’s bridge was replaced by a covered bridge in 1878, but the McKenzie washed the whole thing down river in 1881. A new bridge was built that year, and then again in 1907, and again in 1929, and 1945, and the bridge we all cross today was constructed almost a hundred years after Craig’s bridge in 1968.
In 1885, George “Uncle” and Melvina “Auntie” Frissell built the Log Cabin Inn for weary travelers to get off their stagecoaches for a while, eat some food, and have some company. The Log Cabin did very well until it burned down in 1906. The hotel guests had their belongings burned in the fire so the local residents shared their homes with them until a rescue wagon dispatched from Eugene showed up three days later. “Uncle” and “Auntie” Frissell rebuilt the Log Cabin in 1907 and they built it to last. Visitors from all over the world slept and ate under its hand strewn log structure. Some of them were famous like Frank Sinatra, Clark Gabel, Danny Kay, Herbert Hoover, Willie Nelson, Orlando Bloom, and more, some were tourists looking for world class fishing and breath taking hikes, beautiful waterfalls, and relaxing hot springs, and others were the local residents who lived on the river. Locals loved to eat and drink inside the incredible and historic Log Cabin Inn. Unfortunately, in 2006, ninety-nine years after it was rebuilt, the Log Cabin Inn burned down in a horrific fire.
McKenzie Bridge has recently gone through a revitalization. The McKenzie Station Pub has a full bar and some of the most amazing steaks and burgers in the Pacific Northwest. The McKenzie General Store across the street has four types of Kambucha on tap as well as great local microbrews and wine by the bottle. They have amazing dinner specials that you can eat around the fire pit in the back while listening to live music or hearing a local author read. A traveler can still stay at the Caddisfly Resort, Loloma Lodge, or many other places.
Panels In The McKenzie Bridge Settlement
STRAWBERRY PRAIRIE c.1920
HUNTERS ON HORSEBACK c.1922
MOTOR STAGE ON McKENZIE PASS c.1930
MCKENZIE BRIDGE CONGREGATION 1974
Rosamond Press 