Take a break from the holiday bustle at Loghurst this weekend

CANFIELD

If you need a slow-paced, laid-back break from holiday shopping and bustle, and your Christmas mood extends to seeing a blacksmith at work, enjoying decorative quilting and partaking of a taste of local history, you might do well to include a 210-year-old historic home on your itinerary.

“This was also a stop on the Underground Railroad,” Ann Kurz explained Saturday, referring to the Loghurst Farm Museum, which was built in 1805 and was home to several prominent Mahoning Valley families, including Jacob and Nancy Barnes, who were abolitionists.

Kurz was conducting tours of the historic three-story home, which also has been decorated for the holidays. The tours are a major part of the first Old Traditions, New Dimensions gathering at the farm, 3967 Boardman-Canfield Road.

The two-day event, which kicked off today and continues from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, is a Christmas-themed gathering that features blacksmith demonstrations, quilting and tours of the house, which the Western Reserve Historical Society owns.

The gathering also is to showcase the home to a greater number of people, Kurz noted. She added that the Canfield Heritage Foundation, which operates the home, has plans that include adding a visitors’ center, an orchard and a garden containing native plants.

On Saturday, several attendees enjoyed demonstrations given by Robert H. Kurz of Canfield, a 40-year blacksmith and Ann’s husband.

Read more about the even in Sunda's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.