Originally, this story-and-a-half log house was the home to the Hartsford and Susan Caroline Howard family in Hood County, Texas. There are differing accounts on how and who constructed the cabin. One story is that the Howard slaves built this cabin on the 320 acre tract which Hartsford had purchased May 18, 1858. Another source states that the slaves remodeled and added additional rooms to an already existing cabin. The house consists of one room downstairs, a steep stairway, and an additional room upstairs. Because of the low ceiling on the second floor, it is considered a half-story. Regardless of which is the true account, the hand-hewn timbers of the cabin have withstood the ravages of time for over 130 years to tell the story of yet another pioneer family, its slaves, and their relationship with Native inhabitants. Hartsford Howard was a professional surveyor and chainman who invested heavily on Texas land. Because of this, his house was the site for confrontations with Indians, who justifiably laid claim to the land that the State of Texas was now selling to investors like Howard. Susan Caroline Howard died September 24, 1878, and Hartsford died fourteen years later on February 4, 1892. Both are buried in the old Acton Cemetery, only two miles from the original site of their home.

THE HOWARD CABIN IS CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR RESTORATION.