The small log cabin at the center of the circle of Fort Necessity needed a new roof.
Park ranger Brian Reedy said the leaking cover was starting to rot the cabin's log walls. To prevent further damage, the top had to go.
"We ripped off the old roof last week," Reedy said.
The cabin is open to the sky, but it won't stay that way for long. Reedy plans to put a new roof on it himself in July.
In raising the new roof, he plans to first consult with a historical preservationist based in Hollidaysburg.
Reedy said the new covering would be made of wood shingles authentic to the period.
It should be a better roof than the one George Washington raised.
Reedy pointed out that when Washington built the storehouse and the round log stockade that surrounded it, he likely wasn't concerned about how long it would last.
The entire fort was built in less than a week "out of necessity," over the well-founded fear that a large French and Indian force was approaching.
The cover of the original storehouse consisted of bark and animal hide. The last roof on the reconstructed cabin featured some modern materials. Reedy pointed out that a rubber liner wasn't authentic to the 18th century.
The roofing project is coming 252 years after the July 3, 1754, battle of Fort Necessity that was the first major engagement of the French and Indian War.
After Washington -- then a 22-year old Virginia Colonial lieutenant colonel -- surrendered his command, the French burned the stockade and its storehouse to the ground.
National Park archeologist were able to reconstruct the fort from the wooden stumps they dug up.
The stockade and storehouse were last refurbished in 1996. Reedy hopes the new roof will last longer than 10 years.
Visitors to the historic site on Mondays through Thursdays in July should have the opportunity to see the new roof being installed.
A group of re-enactors has also volunteered to put a new door on the stockade.
There is another historical restoration project under way in the park at the Mt. Washington Tavern.
Park ranger and spokesman Tom Markwardt said architectural conservationists are removing layers of wallpaper in the early 19th-century tavern -- a stop on the National Road -- located along Route 40.
"It was modern wallpaper," said Lawren Dunn, cultural resource manager at the park, who is overseeing the work.
As a result, most of the wallpaper is being stripped from the walls to be replaced by plaster and authentic paint.
Most of the period furnishings have been removed from Mt. Washington and placed in storage but the tavern remains open and there is plenty to see in the work in progress.
Call it preservation tourism.
Doug Proud, of Smithfield-based Proud Contracting, is working with the National Park on the restoration. Proud, who worked on Capitol Hill restorations in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s, said the key to it is detail and doing the work the way one would want it done if they owned the home.
Longtime park ranger Carney Riggs said the restoration offers visitors a golden opportunity to see how the tavern looked in the 19th century. She said some of the smaller rooms are open for public viewing for the first time.
Although the furniture will be moved back into the tavern, the informational displays have been transferred to the new multi-million dollar Interpretive and Education Center.
The center tells the story of both Fort Necessity and the later National Road era.
In addition to elaborate displays (such as a tavern), state-of-the-art audio-visual effects and artifacts, a new 20-minute film that debuted at the center recently skillfully weaves the two eras together.
Memorial observance
The 252nd anniversary of the battle of Fort Necessity will be commemorated July 3 with an evening memorial service.
The observance also will include a special presentation on trade beads, including wampum, a bead made from clam shells that played a vital role in diplomacy with American Indians.
Bob Winters, a trade-bead expert, will discuss "50 years of Wampum and Trade Beads in Pennsylvania" at 7 p.m. in the interpretive and education center.
A memorial program for those who fought and died at Fort Necessity will be held immediately following Winters' program. The walkway to the fort will be lined with 33 luminaries to honor those who lost their lives in the battle. A roll call of the dead and a salute of musket and artillery fire by 1750s-style soldiers will conclude the service.
The admission fee for both programs is $2.
The opening battle of the French and Indian War was fought at Great Meadows, now the site of Fort Necessity National Battlefield.
Also called the Seven Years War, the British and French fought this conflict around the world. Control of North America by the British was the ultimate prize.
