The turtles have won the race

And here is the finished exhibit (well, except for a couple of small fiddly things I will take care of the next time I'm there):

Everything in both wall cases is new.  So is the "birthplace" sign above them.

Here's closeups of both cases:

Just below the header is a timeline.  Below that is a picture of the original cabin, and one of the site pre-cabin.  Below that is a model of the cabin, and a photo of Job Carr, Tacoma's first mayor (portrayed by actor Ray Egan), and Brian Ebersole, the mayor of Tacoma at the time the replica was built.  Below that is a list of the movers and shakers who caused the replica to be built, and an architect's rendering of the location for the new cabin.  Behind everything are cutouts from the blueprints and elevations of the cabin.

More timeline below the heading.  Then a photo of the construction, and statistics on the number of logs used to build the replica.  Below that, some text telling about who was involved in the construction, and another construction photo.  At the bottom, a panoramic photo of the dedication.  More blueprint clips on the back wall.

I swear I spent more time hunting down enough "stuff" to tell the story of the reconstruction of the cabin -- board members, a local photographer, the architect, searching through the museum itself -- than I did actually putting the thing together.  And it took me about a week for the actual putting together.

Right now, the fact that the exhibit is done trumps anything I may feel about how it looks, the story it tells, etc.  It's finished.  And, for the moment, so am I [g].

BTW, if you're in the Tacoma, Washington vicinity this coming Sunday, July 18th, please do come by the cabin and take a history walk and join in some living history activities.  You might even get to watch me quilt in public.