MANSFIELD — The fireplace inside South Park’s historic log cabin is impressive — a sandstone hearth spans most of the north wall, stretching toward the ceiling and enveloping a brick fire pit big enough to warm the whole home — even on a 40-degree day.
Just a few feet away, dried herbs dangle from a tree branch hung from the rough cut plank ceiling. Nearly every furnishing is wooden and made by hand — from the door and window frames to the modest table and chairs by the fire.
Stepping into the cabin is like stepping back in time, just like its caretakers intended.
For years, a band of local volunteers has been working to restore the cabin to its former glory. The group originally formed to help finish the restoration of the 1812 Blockhouse in 2010.
Five years later, they founded a non-profit organization to purchase the cabin and move it to South Park from its original home in Mifflin.
“We hatched up this idea of an organization and we call ourselves the Richland Early American Center for History,” said Tom Pappas, a founding member of REACH. “We thought we could try to reconstruct a little village like it was downtown, where the blockhouse was initially built.”
Since its founding, REACH has hosted historical re-enactments, the annual Colonial Living History Day and given history presentations to children attending the City of Mansfield’s annual summer parks program.
Through its events and restoration projects, REACH aims to preserve, demonstrate and showcase what life might have been like in Richland County during the late 18th and early 19th century, when Ohio was a land of pioneers and settlers. After the pandemic, they hope to be able to give tours to school groups and other members of the public.
“It’s for the benefit primarily of the kids because they’re not even teaching history in schools anymore,” Pappas said. “Our job as historians is to impart on them a little bit of our local history and the national history, which kind of ties in together how we got here.”
According to Pappas, the cabin was likely built in either 1803 or 1808. Generations of owners had modernized the home by covering up the log walls with drywall and siding — concealing and preserving the cabin for nearly 200 years.
The members of REACH found out the little home was actually a historic cabin just before its former owner tore it down. They purchased the structure for $6,000, then carefully disassembled and rebuilt it in South Park.
It took close to eight months to take the cabin apart and another six to eight to clean it. The logs had been covered in five layers of siding and sheet after sheet of wallpaper. There were buckets of nails to remove.
Then came the powerwashing — removing every bit of makeshift insulation between the planks.
“It was like architectural archaeology,” said volunteer Kathleen Addlesperger. “When we took the logs apart, they had stuffed everything under the sun in there. There were whole trees, there were logs, there were rocks, there were pieces of cloth in between the logs.”
After every piece was clean, REACH reassembled the cabin, installing hand-built windows and doors and constructing the fireplace from salvaged foundation sandstones that were taken from demolished 19th century Mansfield homes.
The group has had a few presentations and live demonstrations at the cabin and hopes to have more in the future.
“I think that the younger generation, they don’t know how people lived. They’re so used to their modern conveniences,” said volunteer Cheryl Rettig.
For Rettig, the cabin has a nostalgic feel.
“This is kind of a homey place for me and I enjoy coming down here,” she said. “My grandmother actually had a log cabin down in Mifflin, not far from this one. As a little girl, I went to her log cabin, which was heated by a potbelly stove and had no inside plumbing, and so watching this being built just brought back all those memories for me.”
REACH wrapped up the cabin restoration in early 2020, but the dedication ceremony was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They hope to celebrate the feat in tandem with their next project — a combined blacksmith and woodworking shop.
The L-shaped structure is the first that REACH is building new, but the group will be using similar construction methods and materials to those of the time period. The footers, concrete foundation and treated support beams will all be hidden by hand-sawn Amish lumber.
“In spite of the fact that we try to make it like the early Americans, we still have to follow codes with the city,” Pappas explained.
The structure will also contain a forge and an extensive collection of tools from Mansfield’s former smitheries. All of the equipment came from an anonymous collector.
“He donated a whole lot of blacksmithing equipment — tongs, a big bellows that shoots the air into the area and up the ceiling. We have three or four anvils, pieces for wagon wheels and a stretcher and a shrinker,” Pappas said.
The goal is to have live demonstrations of smithing and woodwork during the Colonial Living History Day and other events. The organization has relationships with artisans who can make buckets, barrels and other pieces like they did in the early 19th century.
For now, construction of the shop has slowed due to the coming of winter and lack of funding.
“I mean we’re still working on it, but we’re short of funds to finish it up. We’ve got shingles to put up yet, we’ve got doors on the front to do,” Pappas said. “We’ve got the blacksmith forge and a chimney to put up yet and smaller incidentals like windows and all that whenever the time comes.”
Donations toward the shop and work done by REACH can be made through Richland Gives.
