A 1930s Cabin Built From 5,796 Dinosaur Bones Faces an Uncertain Future

A unique fossil cabin made from 5,796 dinosaur bones sits stranded near Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Built in 1932 by Thomas Boylan, the structure was once a tourist attraction along the Lincoln Highway. Now, plans to relocate it have stalled until at least 2026 due to logistical hurdles.

Boylan collected the fossils over 17 years from Como Bluff, a famous dinosaur site from the 19th-century 'Bone Wars'. During the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, he used vertebrae as bricks and limb bones as supports, mortaring them into place. The cabin opened in 1933 as the 'Como Bluff Dinosaurium', drawing visitors along the busy highway.

In 2008, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its cultural significance. Eight years later, it was donated to the Medicine Bow Museum, with plans to move it into the town. But the cabin now rests on steel beams above an excavation pit, its relocation delayed by the difficulty of freeing it safely.

No scientific records of the fossils have surfaced since 1933. Modern techniques like CT scanning and 3D modelling could theoretically study them, but no such work has been attempted. The cabin's future remains uncertain as experts seek a way to preserve its unusual history.

The fossil cabin will stay in its current location for at least two more years. Its bones, embedded in mortar for nearly a century, pose a challenge for any relocation effort. Without further assessment, the scientific value of the fossils remains unknown.