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Peters Creek Historical Society welcomes guests for Soup ’N’ Stroll

2 min read
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Harry Funk/The Almanac

Ruthann Seraly is ready to serve homemade soup in the Enoch Wright House kitchen.

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Harry Funk/The Almanac

A new handrail, lower right, and some front portch reconstruction are among the latest improvements at the Enoch Wright House, 815 Venetia Road, Peters Township.

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Harry Funk/The Almanac

Father Christmas, aka Jim Amato, greets Bobby Roskov, Jim’s nephew.

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Donna Marraccini discusses vintage clothing.

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Leonard Marraccini sports a vintage head lantern, used by miners to navigate underground darkness prior to the implementation of powered lights.

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The Celko Log House was relocated from West Finley Township and rebuilt on the Wright House property in 2003.

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Libations of the 18th century are offered in the log house during Soup 'N' Stroll.

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A candle helps illuminate the interior of the 18th-century log house.

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Homemade bread complements the homemade soup.

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Harry Funk/The Almanac

An antique sleigh on the Wright House’s front porch heralds the time of the season.

For more than two centuries, the Enoch Wright House has stood in Peters Township along what now is Venetia Road.

Owned and maintained by Peters Creek Historical Society, the Wright House and Museum of Westward Expansion also includes a log house that was built in the late 18th century in West Finley Township, and then relocated and rebuilt early in the 21st.

Harry Funk/The Almanac

The log house’s chimney rises higher than the structure, itself.

To showcase the property, the historical society hosts a Soup ‘N’ Stroll event each holiday season, 2020 excluded. This year’s return on Sunday featured the usual delicacies of homemade soup, bread and dessert inside the Wright House, plus some additional goodies in the log house offered by curator Willy Frankfort.

Also, Father Christmas – in the United States, the forerunner of Santa Claus – was on hand to greet visitors in what once was the bedroom of Charity Wright, Enoch’s youngest granddaughter. The room generally appears much as it would have around the time of the Civil War.

Next door is a room dedicated to the local history of mining, full of yesteryear’s artifacts and displays by the late William Jenkins of Finleyville, whose family donated his collection to the historical society.

During the Soup ‘N’ Stroll, society vice president Leonard Marraccini described the long-ago uses for various pieces of equipment and spoke about the significance of mining activity in its heyday.

His wife, Donna, was in yet another room, showing and discussing the clothing and jewelry of a bygone era.

In the backyard stands the Celko Log House, named for the physician, Dr. David Celko, who owned the property where the structure had been built. After he donated it to the historical society, the house was moved to its current location in 2003, and preservation efforts have continued since.

The Enoch Wright House, built in 1815-16, also continues to undergo improvements, most recently with the installation of a handrail for steps leading up from the parking lot and refurbishment of part of the front porch. Proceeds from the Soup ‘N’ Stroll help considerably in financing such efforts.

For more information about the Peters Creek Historical Society, including membership, visit peterscreekhistoricalsociety.org.

Harry Funk/The Almanac

Harry Funk/The Almanac

Willy Frankfort, Peters Township Historical Society curator and past president, greets visitors to the Celko Log House.

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