Submitted photo A log cabin at Mack Lake County Park, located near the Minnesota River, several miles west of Fort Ridgely State Park, is up for auction until 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 7. The winning bidder has until March 1, 2022 to remove the cabin from the park.

FAIRFAX — A woman who formerly lived west of Fort Ridgely State Park recalled in detail Friday about what it was like 60 years ago when she lived in a log cabin in the Minnesota River Valley.

The log cabin is being offered at auction online.

Agnes Palmer Mack, 86, of Bertha, said she and her husband Frank A. Mack and their five children lived in the log cabin now in Mack Lake County Park, from 1960 to 1967.

One of her most vivid memories of living in the cabin centered on giving birth to the couple’s third daughter, Ella (Meyer) on March 27, 1960.

“We left the farm in a hurry and drove to the Redwood Falls hospital,” Mack said. “We were in such a hurry, we left a milk machine on a cow. The poor cow was milked for hours.”

The Mack’s livestock included pigs, cows and chickens.

What made their farm unique was that it was underneath the river bluff where the dairy barn was located.

“You had to love hills. It was crazy when it was muddy or icy,” said Mack. “We milked 14 Brown Swiss cows. We carried milk cans down the hill to the house. They were heavy. It was a lot of work. I had no older brothers.”

Mack said her husband Frank later installed an underground milk pipeline under CR 5.

“We poured milk into a washer machine tub, then it went more than 100 feet downhill in a pipe under the road,” she explained.

Mack said digging into the ground wasn’t easy because there was kaolin around the farm.

She said the river bottom land was great for crop farming and gardening, even if it flooded. But it was isolated.

“We didn’t have a phone right away. We couldn’t get television down there,” Mack said. “We would’ve have to build a tower up on the hill and run a cable down to the house.”

Agnes said she and Frank later farmed near Lafayette and Winthrop before moving up north near Bertha.

Bids are being accepted on the log cabin until 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 7, according to an onsite posting on publicsurplus.com.

The cabin is 16 feet by 27 feet, six inches. Side walls are nine feet, six inches tall. The gable is 13 feet, six inches tall.

Located at 60757 CR 5, Fairfax, the log cabin must be moved from the park by Tuesday, March 1.

Because of its location in the Minnesota River flood plain, the log cabin has been damaged by flooding many times and is considered a liability.

Thirteen bids have been received on the log cabin as of Friday. The first offer was $100. The current price is $153.50 as of Friday noon.

The online auction listing, public surplus auction #2965518 added that the auction may extend. It has been extended recently.

The successful bidder will be responsible for removing, packing and/or loading items within 10 business days after award notification. The notice of award, payment receipt, and personal identification must be presented at the time of pickup or the items will not be released.

Renville County reserves the right to keep any contents inside the cabin. It will be sold as-is with no warranty.

Condition of the cabin in the auction property description is listed as “poor.”

The cabin was originally owned and lived in by the Mack family that farmed near the park. The cabin was later sold and donated to Renville County.

For more information including photos, visit https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/renvilleco,mn?auc=2965518

(Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).