Drivers whizzing by Halley Park on West Main Street may have trouble registering the small, non-descript building as anything more than a brown blur caught out of the corner of the eye.

But the Pap Madison cabin, the oldest building in town, is a big part of Rapid City history, according to Journey Museum director Ray Summers.

"For the longest time, we've seen a real need for the community to be much more aware of the significance of this cabin," Summers said. "Right now, lots and lots of people see it every day, because it's on probably the busiest street in the community. But there's very few who really know anything about the cabin. It's just kind of part of the landscape."

That's why sometime this fall, after all of the city permits and permissions are gathered, the Madison cabin will be moved to a more accessible location at The Journey Museum. The Rapid City Council authorized the move this week, and the planning commission is scheduled to perform a use review this morning required by state law whenever something is being done on public property.

The museum will then need a building permit and a moving permit. Summers said Dakota House Moving Services and the Lions Club have offered to donate services for the move and building the foundation at the new site, which is west of the main entrance of the museum in a green area near the RV and bus parking area.

Summers said the new location will allow the public an opportunity to tour the cabin and enable The Journey to place artifacts from the Minnilusa collection inside. The museum has 19th century artifacts, but Summers said there are no artifacts specifically from the Madison cabin when it was in its original location.

"Everybody who was here in 1876 as part of the original group, they were all bachelors. There were no families, per se," Summers said. "I think there were a handful of women, and that was it. So most of the cabins were occupied by bachelors, and they were pretty stark."

Rufus "Pap" Madison was among the pioneer settlers of Rapid City but was not a founder. Madison was a friend of John Brennan, the man credited with founding Rapid City in February 1876; Madison arrived in town shortly after Brennan arrived.

The cabin is the only survivor of the original townsite; it originally stood somewhere near Bully Blends and Aby's Seed at the corner of Fifth and Rapid streets. It was moved to Halley Park in 1926 because of concerns about preserving it as the community grew.

Madison stayed in the cabin two or three years before moving to Rapid Valley where he operated a farm and 160-acre homestead with another man. Eventually, Madison left South Dakota and kept moving west, ending up in Washington state.

As a fundraiser to defray cost of buying material for the cabin's new foundation, the museum is selling bricks that will become part of decorative walkway leading to the cabin. People can buy bricks inscribed and dedicated to a person of choice. Contact Summers at The Journey for more information.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com