What Happened To The Unabomber's Cabin?

Publish date: 2024-05-06

In 2006, a court ordered that all of Kaczynski's possessions be auctioned, with the proceeds being divided among his many victims. According to The New York Times, the auction included the cabin that Kaczynski constructed. By the time the auction was over, the sale yielded over $200,000 (via Atlas Obscura). The cabin was purchased by the Newseum and put on public display. This Washington, D.C.-based museum carefully reassembled the dwelling inside its 643,000-square-foot building, adding an anchor to its already impressive collection of artifacts. 

NBC Montana reported that the 10x12 cabin was about as rustic as you could get. Kaczynski lived without the modern marvels of running water or electricity. There was a "cutaway spot" in the floor for when nature called. A wood stove heated the one-room structure, built with a gabled roof high enough to have a loft space.

In a video shown at the Newseum, a former FBI agent described what the cabin was like when it was raided and searched. He described that it smelled terrible. Photos taken by the FBI (and shared via the Independent Record) showed books haphazardly shoved into shelves built along its walls. Various grocery items, survival gear, debris, and bomb-making supplies were strewn about the cabin. A solitary cot and bedding were along one wall, where Maeve Scott, the director of collections at the Newseum, said the oils from Kaczynski's body formed an outline on the wall he laid against.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB9j3FwaXFlZMSprdNmn5qooJq7prCMraZmrJiaera6wJumppqVp8Bur8CboKdn