Saturday night we went to a fundraiser dinner
at our counties Historical Society
to help pay for the restoration of a log house
History
Recent restoration efforts have made this visual
center for Historical Society ready to stand
for many more generations. New logs to replace rotting
ones, a new kind of chink made from an epoxy mix
that should hold water damage to a minimum,
unlike the cement chink fix that was used in 1974,
all work to make the building
safe for visitors and historians, Wilson said.
"The Galloways had money," Wilson said.'
That is why this home
That is why this home
was a mansion in its day. It had two
front doors, an upstairs
front doors, an upstairs
door that led from the outside
to the sleeping area and a loft
to the sleeping area and a loft
area where they stored their food
and excess household goods.
and excess household goods.
Galloway was also known
to have a library,
to have a library,
which brought visitors
to the home.
to the home.
The house became the property
of the Hunt family and when
of the Hunt family and when
they decided to tear it down
in 1936, Alice Galloway Eavey had
in 1936, Alice Galloway Eavey had
it moved to the newly formed
Greene County Historical Society.
Greene County Historical Society.
By 1965, two donations of property
to the group gave them land
and buildings on Church Street.
That year, they again moved the
log house
log house
by flatbed trailer to
the present location.
the present location.
Nine years later, on April 3,
because of a tornado they
lost half of the Galloway Log House.
There was nothing left above the
There was nothing left above the
bottom floor, and only a few logs remained.
Now, looking at the squared logs
people imagine
people imagine
those are the very logs
hand hewn by Galloway men more
hand hewn by Galloway men more
than two centuries ago. But there
are only "five to 10"
are only "five to 10"
original logs left, according to Wilson.
When they rebuilt in 1974, some logs
were donated from the
were donated from the
McEwen house. Other beams
came from an old barn. Some
came from an old barn. Some
came from a home that was
discovered to be a log house after
discovered to be a log house after
the 1974 tornado, and some
of the supporting structure
of the supporting structure
is made from telephone poles.
"You notice that the parts
don't all match up,
don't all match up,
but somehow, they all work together,"
Wilson said. Ben Thompson,
Wilson said. Ben Thompson,
president of the society,
said they replaced the roof
in 2002 or 2003, and
"the doors were reset then,
"but more needed to be done.
said they replaced the roof
in 2002 or 2003, and
"the doors were reset then,
"but more needed to be done.
Asked how they raised the money
for the repairs this
for the repairs this
time around, he chuckled and said,
"we're still doing that
"we're still doing that
."We didn't have huge donations,
but lots of good, solid
but lots of good, solid
donations from a lot of people,
" he said.
" he said.
James Galloway was not thinking
about preserving
about preserving
his home for two centuries,
"he was thinking about
"he was thinking about
raising his kids in this home
," Wilson said.*
," Wilson said.*
Jo, will they have more dinners? It looked like a very nice time.
ReplyDeleteWe do the same thing here at the Old Wade House Stagecoach Inn.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post!