Focus On: Mansfield Blockhouse
For the City of Mansfield, Ohio there is no landmark more significant to local history than the Blockhouse. It is the oldest known courthouse-jail in the state.
Originally built for military defense purposes during the war of 1812, the structure was later repurposed as both a courthouse and jail. Now believed by local historians to be the oldest remaining courthouse & jail in the state of Ohio, the preservation of this structure is of paramount importance.
Christian & Son, Inc. was contracted to assess and document the structure after the city began to be concerned with ongoing deterioration in multiple areas of the structure. After inspection and documentation, we recommended two courses of action; temporary stabilization to prevent catastrophic loss from collapse, or complete repair and replacement as needed of the damaged components. Realizing the degree of damage to the structure, the city chose a complete restoration. With the city desiring also to relocate the structure to a more prominent placement within the park, we recommended a complete disassembly of the structure prior to repairs. Work commenced winter 2007.
With any restoration project, an ongoing process of discovery coupled with extensive documentation is necessary to develop an accurate picture of the structure's problems, as well as a compiled timeline of prior repairs. In the case of the Blockhouse, prior repairs had occurred at two separate times, and our challenge was to locate the inappropriate materials from prior repairs and eliminate them. In this case, this included plaster and concrete infills in timbers to hide rot, as well as recycled barn floor joists of inappropriate species for the application that had been inserted into the wall stacks.
With the discovery process completed, full documentation has been developed and a comprehensive list of repairs and replacement materials has been compiled. Logs are harvested, and the process of creating reproduction components begins. At Christian & Son, Inc. we maintain the highest quality standard possible throughout the repair and reproduction process. This means careful selection of materials to match original in size and species, as well as using the same hand tools and techniques as the original builders. Our crew is skilled with historic edge tools and is capable of reproducing historic components with impeccable accuracy and detail.
The completed project returns the Blockhouse to it's former glory, nearly 200 years past. The quality of work performed in this restoration will provide at least another 100 years of service before repairs will be needed again. Not shown in these photos is the hand split shake roof and appropriate Natural Hydraulic Lime daubing, neither of which had been installed at the time these pictures were taken.
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