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Austintown Historical Society seeking $3,500 for cost of new shingles for roof
Society seeks funds to replace roof on historic structure
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Community members are raising funds to improve the Austin Log Cabin.
The Austintown Historical Society is seeking to raise about $3,500, or the cost for new wood shake shingles for a new roof. An area roofer has offered to provide the labor of tearing off the old roof and putting the new one on free of charge, said Joyce Pogany, president of the organization.
She also said that roofer did not want to be identified. “It really knocked my socks off when this roofer approached me,” she said with a smile.
Three trees had to be cut down in the past year near the cabin, 3797 S. Raccoon Road, as they had become diseased and needed to be taken down for safety reasons.
“We didn’t realize how bad [the roof] was because of the trees” blocking the view, Pogany said.
The original roof was put on in either 1973 or 1974, and patches to the roof have been made here and there. There is mold on one of the corners of the roof, where one of the trees had been.
Austintown Trustee Ken Carano, also a member of the township historical society, will spearhead the effort to raise funds for the new roof.
“At the time” it was discovered “it really grabbed
the whole community and put it together over this project,” Carano said. “It’s well taken care of and it’s like a real symbol of Austintown.”
Carano said he will be approaching township organizations such as Austintown Rotary in the coming weeks seeking support for the project.
The cabin was preserved and prepared for public use from 1973 to 1976 and is named for Judge Calvin Austin, the township’s namesake. The home originally was set to be demolished, but artificial brick and wood siding was taken off, and the cabin was discovered. Pogany pointed to the cathedral notch – how at the corners of the cabin each end has five points and resembles a cathedral.
That identifier was not used after 1814, so it was built before that year. Every spring the third-grade students in Austintown schools come through the cabin as part of their class – that was 400 students this past spring, Pogany said.
“It’s just wonderful. We kept this [cabin] very primitive, and we kept it that way so people get a really good idea of what we had” back then, she said.
For those seeking to donate funds, checks can be made payable to the Austintown Historical Society, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and mailed to P.O. Box 4063, Austintown, OH 44515. Those seeking more information can call 330-799-8051.