In 1845, Norwegian immigrants Gullik Halverson and his wife, Dorothea, settled about six miles south of Whitewater in the town of Richmond. Within a year, they built a small, one-room cabin in which they raised their five children. It was approximately 16-feet wide x 20-feet long, with a small, lofted sleeping area and a large stone fireplace. The walls were hand-hewn timbers, about 9- to 10-inches square, chinked with mortar and set upon a shallow sandstone foundation.

In 1861, the Halverson family moved into Whitewater, abandoning the cabin. By the early 20th century, local historians recognized the Halverson cabin as an excellent example of an early pioneer home.

In 1907, the Whitewater Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater) acquired the cabin and moved it to a wooded knoll on its campus. Whitewater Normal School, under school president Albert Salisbury, was a premier education facility for teachers and had a reputation during this time as a progressive-minded school. Acquiring and relocating the cabin was an early attempt by the school at historic preservation. Careful attention was paid to authentically replicate the building's original construction details and design as it was turned into a "Museum of Pioneer Life."

For many years, the cabin served as a learning center, as well as a place for social events and faculty gatherings, until it closed in the 1960s. The Halverson Log Cabin remains on the UW-Whitewater campus today.