Winter takes a toll on any home, especially if, like the Captain Scott House, it has been vacant for over a year.

“We had to use several ladders at once to get in and cover the broken windows,” said Doug Bennett, a St Albans township resident who is a direct descendent of Captain Scott himself, and who with his son Ian completed the window covering. “There is a small amount of water damage from the winter, but now that the weather has improved we’ll be getting started again on the preservation effort.”

Bennett is a member of the Friends of Captain Scott committee of the Alexandria Community Council, the group that raised cash and in-kind contributions to move the historic Italianate home out of the way of a highway project last year. The house is about a mile northwest of its original location, set down at a former dairy now owned by a Columbus sand and gravel company, Brookside Materials, that donated the site.

The house is presently sitting on partially completed basement walls, with temporary interior support columns. The permanent steel beams and columns are lying nearby, yet to be installed. After steel installation, the laying-up of the stone-like split-face block at the top of the foundation can be completed, the basement waterproofed, and the foundation back-filled.

“We’re presently in the planning stages for initial landscaping, and for a sign that will keep people posted on activities surrounding the house restoration project,” said Donna Herring, chair of the committee. “We have a serious problem with the steel installation, and we’re pursuing bids and donations on that. We do have a steady stream of small donations coming in, but we also had to pay for some of the materials, supplies, and labor for different parts of the basement work – lots was donated, and the rest was discounted, usually steeply.”

“There’s still an awful lot of work to do to get the house and the grounds around it to a stable state,” said Herring, “and that means there’s still money and volunteer hours needed for one part and another of the work. We’re planning several fundraising events for this year as a start on covering those expenses, and will be scheduling some hands-on classes, This-Old-House style, for work on the house itself as soon as we can.”

Much long-term financial planning still lies ahead of the committee. “We started discussions with The Licking County Foundation last summer about the possibility of starting up an endowment fund there,” said Herring, “but we haven’t yet either received a gift restricted to endowment or had any extra money to apply to an endowment. Establishing an endowment will be necessary for the preservation of the house as a community asset into the future.”

Short-term and long-term volunteer opportunities are available now with the Friends of Captain Scott committee. Some volunteers will be able to work on the restoration of the house itself, and some are needed to staff and support the fundraising and educational events as well as the behind-the-scenes work necessary to keep a non-profit organization running.

The Captain Scott House was built circa 1870 for Joseph M. Scott, who was an outspoken abolitionist and Civil War captain who raised Company B of the 76th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Captain Scott was a prominent and successful farmer and early local historian. The house is a classic example of the Victorian Italianate architectural style and includes a carved spiral staircase among other handcrafted details. It had to be moved from the intersection of state routes 37 and 161 as a new interchange is built for the widening of 161, and it is now a mile northwest of its original site.

Current plans are for the first floor to be a community center, possibly with a gallery room, and for the second floor to be a museum focused on the Abolitionist movement and the Civil War and how each affected local families and the regional economy.

The Friends of Captain Scott Committee is part of the Alexandria Community Council, a nonprofit group active for over 75 years in support of community events and projects in the village and St. Albans township. To support this historic preservation project, send your tax-deductible donations or send a note about your willingness to volunteer, to the Alexandria Community Council, Friends of Captain Scott Committee, P.O. Box 234, Alexandria OH 43001, or contact Donna Herring (740-924-0516), email CaptainScott@AlexandriaOH.org.

For further information see the website www.CaptainScottHouse.org.