As related in Elizabeth Watson’s Houses for Science, "In the fall of 1951 the time came for the cabin colony on the lawn behind Blackford Hall to be disbanded to make way for the Carnegie Institution’s large construction project that was about to commence directly next door."

The tents were converted to permanent cabins, the "old" cabins, located on the hill west of James annex. The cabins were moved to a site near Urey Cottage. In their new location, they were combined to form four units.

In November 1998, the historic cabins were torn down due to their extensive deterioration to make room for the construction of the new Samuel Freeman building.