4-H Camp Sessions: Focused on the Historic Preservation Trades

From June 17th to 20th, PAWV staff, board members, and Preserve WV AmeriCorps members taught preservation trades at the Jackson’s Mill 4-H Older Members Conference (OMC). This was a great opportunity to showcase preservation techniques and help members understand what they can do in their communities to help their historic resources.

On the first day of the conference Joni Morris, PAWV’s cemetery preservation expert, taught cleaning methods, repairs and documentation of headstones. Students took to applying their newly learned skills in the historic Jackson Cemetery on Jackson Mill’s campus, where they cleaned several historic stones. They also fully reset one tablet stone that had cracked near its base. Their efforts in the cemetery landed them on the front page of the OMC daily newspaper!

The next day, Preservation Manager Jamie Billman led a walk around the Jackson’s Mill campus, explaining the materiality and upkeep of the surrounding buildings. They talked about common problems facing aging buildings and the importance of keeping up with maintenance tasks such as those on PAWV’s assessment checklist.

Following a brief introduction to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the National Register of Historic Places, participants filled out an updated historic property inventory (HPI) for the Webster County Cabin with the help of a former camper and the staff historian, Joe Obidzinski.

The next two days saw instruction from Jon Smith, PAWV board member, and historic preservation master carpenter. Jon has been a carpenter since the 1970s and runs Smith Family of Workshops. The first day with Jon was spent talking about methods, materials, and safety. The students and Jon walked around the historic district and looked at the Mills and blacksmith shop for examples of timber structures and old construction methods.

The next day students got to work and put together picture frames using similar construction techniques that would be used to build or preserve historic wooden sash windows. This gave them the opportunity to try out historic techniques to make wooden dowels, measure angles and then put the pieces together. The students were excited to use some new-to-them tools and to walk away with a hand-built picture frame!

PAWV is pleased that these students were so engaged in the historic trades and preservation, and hopes to lead similar workshops in the future.