Westfield group restoring log cabin built in 1835

WESTFIELD — The Westfield Washington Historical Society is reconstructing a 187-year-old cabin.

Originally built in 1835, the cabin was hand built by a man named Nicholas Barker. It is located at 136 Penn Street.

The original location of the cabin was on Shady Nook Road.

"They are putting a housing development out where the original location is. And I got a phone call one Sunday evening, and they said, 'The wrecking ball is there.' So, I went out there and stood in front of the wrecking ball and said 'No.'" Diana Peyton, president of the Westfield Washington Historical Society said.

A developer bought the property and gave the Historical Society two weeks to move the cabin. Within those two weeks, they took apart every log and transported it on a semi-trailer to its new location.

Now, Peyton hopes to use it as a Westfield Welcoming Center and Education Center.

"We have about three to 500 3rd graders come through our museum a year from the school, the Montessori school, some of the daycares around, and the kids will be able to come in here and feel and touch and hold and smell," Peyton said.

Along with this, the cabin will also be available to rent for events in the future.

The Historical Society is selling bricks that can be used as a memorial for a loved one. These bricks will be placed leading up to the cabin door.

"Four by eight bricks are $100, the eight by eight bricks are $200," Peyton said. "If you want to memorialize someone, you can put a brick out front, and it'll be there for as long as the buildings here."

The Historical Society plans to open the cabin at the end of October.