Outhouse is historic, no ... kidding


GIRARD — A little piece of history will be salvaged from the site of the new Girard High School and stored at the Barnhisel House on U.S. Route 422.

The wooden, weather-beaten structure with one window being transported to the historic Barnhisel House could be mistaken by many younger people as a small kids’ playhouse, but it is in fact an outhouse dating back more than 100 years.

The Barnhisel House is an historic home in the city that was once slated for demolition, but was saved by the Girard Historical Society. It was built by the Barnhisel Family in the early 1800s.

Members of the historical society spent several hours tearing down the outhouse structure Wednesday and preparing it to be moved by numbering each piece of wood that make up the exterior walls.

“Some of the wood has to be replaced, but we saved as much as we could so we would know how to put it all back together,” said Roberta Lawrentz, historical society president.

Lawrentz estimates the outhouse structure to be about 110 years old.

Read more in Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com