What happened to the cabin Thoreau built at Walden?
On September 6, 1847, Thoreau left the cabin which he himself had built and in which he had lived for two years, two months, and two days. Emerson then bought the cabin from Thoreau and resold it to his own gardener, Hugh Whelan, who intended to convert it into a cottage for his family. Whelan’s drinking problems, however, prevented him from completing the necessary modifications and the cabin remained abandoned until 1849, when it was purchased by William Clark, who then moved it across town to his own farm and used it for grain storage. The roof was removed in 1868 and used as part of a pig sty, and in 1875 the remaining timber was used to patch up the Clark barn. A replica of the cabin has been erected across Route 126 from Walden Pond. Source: Harding, Walter. The Days of Henry Thoreau (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1970), pp. 222-23.
