1863 Thomas Sleight Cabin, Paris

Paris, Bear Lake County

• Grants: 2019 – Replaced rotted logs, installed a weed barrier, replaced plexiglass window with period glass

Location: 163 South Main Street, Paris

Thomas Sleight, part of the first vanguard company of pioneers to settle the Bear Lake Valley, settled along the Paris River in 1863. Settlers rushed to complete cabins to shelter themselves during the winter of 1863-4, and this is the only remaining cabin of the 30 or so that were built by the fledgling community throughout this first winter. Families would share cabins until enough were built to house everyone, and this one was no different. Thomas and Marianne Sleight shared the small space with Charles and Anne Atkins until the town of Paris was planned out the following year and land was parceled off to each family. The cabin was later moved to the lot of land assigned to the Sleights, where it remained even after the construction of a larger framed house. The City of Paris later took ownership of the cabin, converting it into a city park.

You can learn more about the Sleights from our previous story about their early days on the frontier here: Winter Through the Window of the Sleight Cabin – Idaho Heritage Trust, Inc.