Feb 8, 2019 2 min read

Two years after it was disassembled and moved, the more than 200-year-old Sumney log home will be rebuilt in Mingo Creek County Park.

The Washington County commissioners on Thursday voted to seek bids from qualified companies to put the logs back together at the park’s area for organized camping.

The aim is for Scouts to be able to use the house for activities or as a place to stay during inclement weather.

The county will pay for the costs of the project from funds received from the park’s natural gas lease.

Kelly McChesney of the Scenery Hill area was tasked with tagging and recording the position of each component before they were stored at the park.

The Isaac Sumney house in Nottingham Township last stood on property owned by Philip and Kathy Long, who donated the structure to the county.

According to the book, “Preserving Our Past, Landmark Architecture of Washington County, Pennsylvania,” the Sumneys built the home in two separate sections connected by a sort of breezeway known as a “dogtrot.”

Information in the book goes on to state Sumney was an early manufacturer of earthenware pottery, who may have used one section of the house as a workshop. Records for 1820 show Sumney employed three helpers, and a descendant, David Sumney, was still operating a pottery kiln in the late 1860s.

The Sumney House would be the second historic home at the park known for the Ebenezer and Henry covered bridges.

The county also plans to renovate the Henry House, a stone structure near the bridge that dates to the early 1800s, so it can be opened to public gatherings. These changes are still in the design phase.