About
A cabin, a narrative, and the volunteers between them
The Massy Harbison Cabin is a preserved frontier dwelling and memorial on Oates Boulevard in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, kept open by an all-volunteer committee.
Since 1792
One room, and the whole frontier inside it
In May 1792 Massy Harbison was taken from her home along the Allegheny with her children during a raid on the settlements north of Pittsburgh. She escaped days later and walked barefoot through the woods until she reached Fort Pitt, where her account was recorded and later published as one of the most detailed captivity narratives written in western Pennsylvania.
The cabin standing on Oates Boulevard today keeps that memory in place: hand-hewn logs, a working hearth, and a hillside that still looks toward the river she followed home. A volunteer committee maintains the structure and leads tours.
