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Restoration of 1800s Washington County cabin finally complete

Photo by Chad Plauche-Adkins Sam Howard’s renovated 19th century cabin near New Matamoras weathers the Wednesday morning clouds.

NEW MATAMORAS — In 1873 after a short stint with the 189th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, John Adams paid $63 for 53 acres of land four miles west of present-day New Matamoras.

Two years later he began building a home in which he and his wife could begin having a family. In 1894 he sold the house and property to Simon Hall. Hall, a veteran from Ohio company E, 36th infantry, raised 10 children in the home with his wife.

More than 120 years later, Sam Howard, 58, of New Matamoras, Ohio, became the current owner of the log home and all the history that went along with it.

“A friend wanted his property cleared that the house sat on. So I swapped labor for the cabin,” Howard said.

Originally located about a mile from its present location, the cabin had to be moved log by log to where it resides today and be rebuilt. Howard was able to assemble most of the basic structure by himself using a small mobile crane that he designed and built. But for the majority of the task he relied on his good friend John Decker of New Matamoras to help complete the log home. The two have been slowly completing the project since 2006 and have now completed it.

Photo by Chad Plauche-Adkins John Decker, of New Matamoras, opens the door to a 19th century cabin four miles west of New Matamoras.

“We are very good friends. He asked me if I wanted to help build the log cabin and I said ‘sure,'” said Decker.

The duo have been working together for decades on projects in the New Matamoras area.

“We built the gazebo in Park Central and did the big sidewalk project in front of the Mason Hall. He’s just a super nice guy that will do anything for you,” Howard said of his friend.

Not only are Howard and Decker helping to preserve the history of the log cabin, they are incorporating pieces from several dilapidated structures in the area.

“The biggest part of the (materials) have been recycled,” Howard said.

Photo by Chad Plauche-Adkins The interior log walls and original floors show the history of the historic cabin just west of New Matamoras.

All the doors in the home have antique cast iron and porcelain knobs. The walkway outside the cabin includes the stones from another decaying log cabin, and the fireplace front is made from an old home where the only real structure left was the chimney, he said. They even used the blackboards from Stover High School (before it was torn down and replaced with Frontier High School) as the counter tops in the kitchen.

Howard used a chainsaw when he rebuilt the cabin and said he was in awe of the work the original builders had to do.

“When they built the cabins they had to use a broad ax. I can’t imagine the amount of time it took to hue those logs by hand,” he said.

Not all parts of the cabin are true to its age, though. It has modern conveniences like electricity, plumbing and a central heating and cooling unit. Some of the building materials the original owners used weren’t feasible to use today.

“The material in between the logs is called chinking. Today’s chinking is latex rubber. (The original builders) used rocks, chunks of wood, mud and straw to put between the logs to keep the air out,” Howard said.

Howard purchased his first old log home in 1981 and was officially, “Hooked on the bug,” he said.

“My dad thought I was crazy. But after things got going he and mom were thrilled with it,” Howard said.

In 1985 Howard purchased his second log home and after some renovations he moved in. He still lives in that home to this day. The current cabin that he purchased in 2006 will officially be his last renovation, chuckled Howard. He is planning to sell the home upon completion of the renovation.

There is something about owning a cabin with history and character that can’t compete with a new home, he said.

“You can’t duplicate the old,” Howard said.

For those who want to see the cabin, it has been chosen to be a stop during the Little Muskingum Watershed Association Fall Foliage Tour Oct. 13-14.

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