SPRINGDALE -- The past 168 years have not been easy for the Ritter-McDonald log cabin on the grounds of the Shiloh Museum. The cold and heat, wind and rain and thousands of children's feet have taken their toll on the cabin, believed to be built in 1854.
The City Council on Tuesday issued a show of support for a restoration project planned by the Board of Trustees of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.
"The city of Springdale recognizes the historical significance of the log cabin, as well as the importance of maintaining the integrity, safety and longevity of the log cabin," reads a resolution the council passed unanimously.
The museum board on Thursday should determine a contractor for the $140,000 project. The restoration work should be completed by the end of this year, said Angie Albright, museum director.
The board oversees an endowment started in 1992 to support the museum.
David W. Stahle, director of the Tree-Ring Laboratory at the University of Arkansas, led a dendrology study which found the oldest log in the house dated to 1853 and another 1854, Albright noted.
This led museum officials to think the cabin was built in 1854.
Holes in the roof of the cabin showed sunshine through them Tuesday. Albright pointed out that part of the floor is soft, the chinking is gone between some of the logs and a support beam along the bottom of the cabin looks rotted.
But she also noted the structure of the cabin has one log cut to exactly fit with its cross logs at the time of the cabin's construction.
"It's going to be hard to fix," she said. "Anything they take out, they're going to have to figure out how to get it back in."
The museum board has been trying for 11 years to get the historic log cabin restored, Albright said. Reasons for the long delay included money, but also finding the right contractor for the job.
Albright pointed out on the roof ridge called "turkey feathers" that will be hard to replicate.
The feathers are actually shingles extended over the ridge of the roof on the side of the prevailing winds to help carry the wind and rain up and over the edge, according to a listing on waymarking.com of a cabin in Norfolk, in northeastern Arkansas. The treatment was highly successfully in keeping the structure dry, the website explains.
Gary Clements of Clements & Associates Architects in North Little Rock, which specializes in historic structures, has drawn plans for restoration. He has worked with the city for the preservation and restoration of the Shiloh Meeting Hall on the museum grounds, a former church and meeting place for the Order of the Oddfellows; Fitzgerald's Station, a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route; and Rabbit Foot Lodge in J.B. Hunt Park, the former home of Sen. J. William Fulbright.
Albright noted one challenge to the restoration is finding replacement logs, as needed, that match the current logs as to type of wood, size and age. But she said contractors involved with restoration work have their own network to help source materials.
The cabin was built near Elm Springs on land that was owned by the Choctaw Indian tribe until 1857, Albright shared. Historians believe William Barrington built the cabin in 1854, she said.
The museum has a mention of the cabin from 1862 in the records of a Confederate soldier quartered in the cabin.
The soldier wrote that Confederate Gen. Earl Van Dorn passed in the front of the cabin on his way from Fayetteville to Pea Ridge, along the Bentonville Road.
"That makes this cabin the last original witness of the Battle of Pea Ridge," Albright said.
R.L. Ritter bought the cabin in 1866 and owned it until 1912. Ritter was the great-grandfather of Roy Ritter, who founded the AQ Chicken House restaurant and served as the mayor of Springdale from 1975 to 1979.
The McDonald family bought the cabin from the Ritter family and donated it to the museum, Albright said.
The cabin was moved to the museum grounds in 1979. It sat just north of where the museum's exhibit hall and offices sit today.
The cabin was moved to its current location in 1989 when the current museum building was constructed, Albright concluded.
The stone fireplace in the log cabin is not original to the cabin, although it is era-appropriate, Albright added.
The fireplace came from the McGarrah-Reed cabin, which has been rebuilt inside the museum building as part of the museum's permanent exhibit.
Today, the Ritter-McDonald cabin plays host to many schoolchildren on field trips, so its restoration is important for safety, Albright said. The museum staff also uses the cabin as a place for storytelling during special events such as "Christmas at the Cabin."
The cabin sits just beside the Razorback Greenway and is an iconic figure for Springdale, Albright said.
The cabin is surrounded by vegetable and flower gardens planted and maintained by the Washington County Master Gardeners.
Angie Albright, director of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale points out problems Tuesday Sept. 27, 2022 at the Ritter-McDonald Log Cabin on the museum grounds. The cabin was built in the 1850s at Elm Springs. The museum board is looking to preserve the condition of the log cabin on its grounds. For information about the museum see https://shilohmuseum.org/ Visit nwaonline.com/220928Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler)
Old chinking and deteriorating logs are seen Tuesday Sept. 27, 2022 at the Ritter-McDonald Log Cabin on the grounds of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale. The cabin was built in the 1850s at Elm Springs. The museum board is looking to preserve the condition of the log cabin on its grounds. For information about the museum see https://shilohmuseum.org/ Visit nwaonline.com/220928Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler)
Angie Albright, director of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale, gives s tour Tuesday Sept. 27, 2022 at the Ritter-McDonald Log Cabin on the museum grounds. The cabin was built in the 1850s at Elm Springs. The museum board is looking to preserve the condition of the log cabin on its grounds. For information about the museum see https://shilohmuseum.org/ Visit nwaonline.com/220928Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler)