FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - City leaders and local preservationists recently got an up-close look at the tough task that lies ahead should a more than 170-year-old pioneer home be returned to its original condition.
Officials for years have talked about restoring the Woolsey homestead on city land south of the West Side Wastewater Treatment Plant. But, until recently, nothing formal had been done, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (https://bit.ly/1F1Ln0g ) reported.
The homestead features a dilapidated house, crumbling brick smokehouse, hand-dug well, barn and overgrown cemetery.
A large stone marker in the cemetery indicates the land was settled by Samuel and Matilda Woolsey in 1830 - six years before Arkansas was admitted to the Union and three decades before the Civil War began.
Core samples taken from wooden beams in the house by David Stahle with the University of Arkansas Tree Ring Laboratory indicate the timber used to build the house was felled in 1842.
“That places it as one of the oldest structures in the state of Arkansas,” said Aaron Ruby with Allison Architects.
Many of the floorboards in the house are missing. There are holes in the roof. A stone chimney on the house’s west side is in shambles.
The City Council in mid-2014 budgeted $280,000 over a five-year period to clean up the homestead and stabilize the house so it won’t deteriorate further. But the money does little to address actual restoration.
“All of the structures related to the historic homestead are in varying degrees of collapse and are no longer structurally stable,” Ruby’s condition assessment report of the property states. “Any serious effort at restoring the structure will undoubtedly be tedious and expensive, given its current condition.”
The report estimates a complete restoration could cost anywhere between $800,000 and $1.5 million.
Don Marr, Mayor Lioneld Jordan’s chief of staff, said city officials hope to find funding for the project through grants, partnerships or private donations.
A portion of the $70,000 the city plans to spend this year has paid for site cleanup, vegetation removal, a hazardous materials survey and a chain link fence around the cemetery. Eventually, the Facilities Management Department will seal the house’s windows and cover the roof with a tarp to prevent water from seeping in.
Depending on the long-range plan, any additions to the original structure could be removed, stripping the house to its original timber frame. Then, new flooring and roofing will have to be added.
Paula Marinoni is one of several residents who has rallied to save the homestead since the late 1990s, when the city purchased about 300 acres for the West Side sewer plant.
She envisions the property as an interpretive historical site where schoolchildren or tourists could go to catch a glimpse of what life must have been like for early Arkansas settlers.
The site is secluded enough that visitors can get a sense of traveling back in time, Marinoni said. And, she added, with the nearby Woolsey Wet Prairie and its native grasses and trees, the landscape resembles what the area must have looked like more than 150 years ago.
Ruby said converting the homestead to a historical site or working farm will require more research into the Woolseys and the property itself.
Carolyn Rex, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Samuel Woolsey’s sister, has conducted some genealogical research.
Rex said Samuel Woolsey was born in Greene County, Tennessee. He moved to Illinois when he married his wife, Matilda. The couple moved to Hempstead County before settling in Washington County. Rex said she thought her ancestors were granted land from the government for Samuel Woolsey’s service in the War of 1812.
“I think there’s a lot of history up here and probably a lot more than people in this part of Arkansas realize,” she said. “This isn’t just an old house. There’s history to it. I’m really excited to see it restored.”
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