Old log cabin gets a new lease on life

12/27/2006

Passing the buck has taken on a new meaning at Penta Career Center.

Included in Penta's purchase of 160 acres approximately three years ago for the construction of its new campus was the "Buck" house, which is on Buck Road in Perrysburg Township.

Like the five houses Penta bought on Lime City Road, the Buck house was scheduled to be torn down.

Only the Buck house isn't really a house, but a log cabin that dates back more than 100 years. The logs are hidden externally by aluminum siding, but former residents say the logs were clearly visible from inside the home when they lived there.

Rather than destroy a piece of history, Penta has agreed to donate, or pass, the Buck house to the Wood County Historical Center and Museum, which will attempt to relocate the cabin onto its grounds in Bowling Green.

News of the agreement was satisfying to at least one woman who has personal and family ties to the spared home.

"This is the best Christmas present you could have," said Georgia Shank, 66, of Rossford.

Ms. Shank said her great-grandmother and great-grandfather, Margaret and Fred Buck, first lived in the cabin in the late 19th century. She said her immediate family moved into the cabin in 1949, and Ms. Shank stayed there until she graduated from Rossford High School in 1958.

Other families with no relation to Margaret and Fred Buck have since lived in the old farm home.

"When we heard they were going to tear it down, we went crazy," Ms. Shank said. "My two brothers, sister, and I are very happy about this."

And so is museum Director Christie Raber.

Ms. Raber said the museum plans to use the cabin as part of its Wood County heritage trail, which will stretch over its 51-acre property and be marked with different mementos from the county's past. The trail was part of the museum's master plan developed 10 years ago but was put on hold in part because there was no cabin to be found.

"All of a sudden, we heard this cabin was available and the heritage trail became an option," Ms. Raber said.

To transport the cabin to Bowling Green, the museum hired Buck House Moving LLC (who else?), which will load the cabin onto a large truck and leave any modern additions behind for destruction.

Ms. Raber said the moving company will take the roof off the cabin but keep the logs intact. The home will be delivered in two trips.

Once the cabin arrives on site, it will be put reassembled and suspended over a foundation. The cabin will be lowered as soon as the foundation has settled, and limestone will be added to give the historic home an authentic look.

Ms. Raber said the entire cabin project will cost approximately $27,000, with the Wood County Park District contributing $15,000. The hope is to have the cabin moved from Buck Road early next month.

"We envision using it for reenactments and programs like cooking demonstrations and [lectures on] the use of medicinal herbs," she said.