EVENTS

Log Cabin Day & Ice Cream Social
Sunday, June 22, 2025 | 1-5pm
Full details on this year's event coming this spring!

Log Cabin Day is an annual free, family-friendly festival presented by People for Palmer Park that celebrates history, music, theater, storytelling, and art. It will be held on Sunday, June 23 from 1-5 pm in the beautiful outdoor setting next to and inside the historic Palmer Park Log Cabin overlooking Lake Frances. Join our neighbors, Senator Thomas “aka Abe Gurewitz” Palmer and his wife Lizzie “aka Dona Tracey” Palmer by dressing-up in vintage attire and hats from the 1800s-early 1900s!

This beloved community event, held for the past decade, transforms the grounds of the Palmer Park Log Cabin with vibrancy, fun, and enrichment with a variety of activities and presenters, including:
  • 102nd USCT Black Civil War History Group
  • Enjoy free homemade ice cream from Guernsey Dairy Farms for the first 500
  • Tours of the restored Log Cabin main floor, including the newly restored kitchen where Mama Denise will talk about cooking and life in the 1800s!
  • The return of the fabulous Hat & Bonnet Parade/Contest with prizes for all children who make a hat  from Dream Arts Company! Make your spectacular hat in the Big Blue Tent!
  • Square Dancing, music and puppetry with the Detroit Square Dance Society
  • Readings in the Log Cabin by storytellers from the Brilliant Detroit, who will be giving away books to all children!
  • Quilting, sewing, knitting and other demonstrations and quilt display with April Shipp and the Creative Circle collective of women crafters 
  • Weaving demonstrations by Michael Daitch of Coat of Many Colors Weaver
  • Spinning wheel demos by fiber artist Lynette Halalay
  • Other artists and crafts people will demonstrate basket making, flag-making, vintage carpentry, blacksmithing (with SmithShop.com) and more.
  • Food pop-ups and trucks and more surprises

People for Palmer Park (PFPP) and the City of Detroit open Palmer Park’s historic 1800s Log Cabin each year for a rare public tour of the only authentic log cabin in Detroit.

Built in 1885 for Senator Thomas and Lizzie Merrill Palmer by the renowned architects George D. Mason and Zachariah Rice, Palmer Park’s extraordinary Log Cabin makes history come alive. The cabin, which looks like a rustic cabin on the outside and a Victorian-era home on the inside, was used by the Palmers as a place to host parties in what then was the countryside outside of pre-auto industry Detroit. The impressive landmark with new restoration, shimmering stain-glass windows, pocket doors, and more is an enchanting testament to historic preservation. Sen. Palmer donated the land to Detroit in 1894 with the stipulation that it always remain a park for the enjoyment of all. The cabin lay dormant for some four decades until People for Palmer Park and the City of Detroit successfully raised funds to restore it. Log Cabin Day celebrates the rebirth of the cabin and of Palmer Park. 

Thank you to our 2023 sponsors: City of Detroit Parks & Recreation Dept., City of Detroit General Services, Guernsey Dairy, and Integrity Shows. 

Log Cabin Day Media Coverage​MORE on the Palmer Park Log Cabin
MORE EVENTS:


LIGHT UP THE CABIN 


LOG CABIN DAY


WINTERFEST


HARVEST FESTIVAL


ARTS & CULTURE


PALMER PARK ART FAIR