Korvola Cabin

May 2003 – Now located in Roseberry, Idaho.

Though there are discrepancies in the story of the first Finnish settlers to arrive in Long Valley, local historians are in agreement that in 1895 three young men arrived in the valley and homesteaded in the same general area south of the Gold Fork River and north of Roseberry.  According to Frank Eld, John Korvola was one of those young men. Whether he was among the first Finnish to arrive in Long Valley or not, most local historians agree that John Korvola built a cabin near the Gold Fork River in 1903. This cabin is now located at the Valley County Museum in Roseberry.
          This century-old cabin is still in remarkable shape and the dovetailed corners are still snug. Dovetailed corners were not commonly used on hastily built homestead cabins, because they required that the logs be hewn (squared off). More often simple saddle notching was practiced where the ends of the round logs overlap, but the Finnish settlers with their unique tool the vara could efficiently construct dovetailed corners.