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In 1882, Knut Gunderson from Krødsherad emigrated to America. He moved to Otter Tail County in Minnesota and purchased land. There, he built this small log cabin.
The Gunderson Cabin is a typical first residence for someone who acquired a “farm” in the Midwest. It was meant to be a temporary residence, rather than a permanent home. It would serve this purpose while the farmer acquired a livelihood and enough funds to build a larger and better house for himself and his family.
In 1888, Knut Gunderson married Maria Ramstad. They moved into his little log cabin, where they had five children, and lived there until 1894. Then, they built themselves a new house, where they had six more children. This cabin was then used as a granary until 1909 and after that as a summer kitchen until 1937. Nine of Knut’s children lived to adulthood.
The house was donated to the museum in 1962 by Knut Gundersen’s grandson, Wayne.