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Reconstruction on Logan’s Fort in Kentucky progresses

Reconstruction on Logan’s Fort in Kentucky progresses

Posted: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 8:01 pm
By: AP

STANFORD, Ky. (AP) — Crews are finishing the first phase of a long-planned effort to recreate the historic Logan’s Fort in central Kentucky.
American Pioneer Restoration, a Tennessee company that recreates historic buildings, has spent more than a month building a two-story block house that anchors a corner of the fort and portions of two walls extending from it.
The Logan’s Fort Foundation has been working to rebuild the 1776 fort for 15 years.
Foundation director Irene Jaggers told The Advocate-Messenger of Danville recently that the organization had spent about $106,000 so far and about $900,000 is needed to finish the project.
Jaggers declined to say how much the foundation has available, but said at least one wall and a cabin or two on the interior of the fort would be completed by year’s end.
She said the public is invited to a fundraising party on July 24 to see the progress on the reconstruction.
“We need to get some people out here to see what we’re doing,” she said. “We know money is tight now, but I think when people come out, they’ll see it’s the real deal and they will give. We’re going forward on faith.”
Although some modern tools are being used to restore the fort — a Bobcat, chain saw and generator were on the construction site — most the work is being done as it would have been 225 years ago.
“Some of the things we had to build to today’s standards, like the foundation, because of codes, but from the ground up it’s about as real as it gets,” said Larry Coffee, the project’s general contractor.
Mules were brought up from Tennessee to move the logs early in the process. Last week, workers were using hair from the mules along with straw, sand, clay and water to strengthen the mortar chinking between the log slabs used to construct the block house.
The fort’s cedar and poplar timbers are roughhewn, hand-split and notched using old-fashioned tools. Handmade wooden pegs are used instead of nails.
Project architect Garlan Vanhook researched the fort and held construction crews to stringent requirements for historical accuracy. He said requiring such authenticity would help people connect with history and make the project stand out.
“We have an opportunity to put a brand on Logan’s Fort that might not exist out there in the marketplace by staying true to the details,” he said.
The recreated fort is seen as having the potential to boost tourism in Lincoln County, one of Kentucky’s three original counties.
Perhaps the fort’s most famous moment came when it was under siege by Native Americans for 57 days.
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Information from: The Advocate-Messenger, http://www.amnews.com
Published in The Messenger 6.30.10