The Petersburg Cabin

The Petersburg Cabin. . Log cabins were prevalent in Richland County in the early 1800's as settlers searched for a place to put down roots and start a new life. The Petersburg Cabin is a pre-civil war made of hand hewed logs., It was originally located on a knoll opposite Petersburg Lake, and it was later relocated to the town of Mifflin. It was moved to lot #33 by Peter Paullins around 1889 when he moved his family to Mifflin. The lot was originally deeded to Peter Deardorf. The town of Petersburg (now Mifflin) was laid out June 28, 1816 and named after Peter Deardorf. Mifflin was part of Richland County from 1807 to 1847., Richland Early American Center for History (REACH) acquired the cabin in 2015. The cabin is dated early 1800's (around 1808) and had been hidden under layers of interior and exterior siding. Each log was tagged before the cabin was dismantled and placed into storage. On October 30, 2016, REACH members broke ground for the reconstruction of the 26' wide x 20' deep log cabin at South Park. Construction began in the spring of 2017 and the cabin was completed in spring of 2020 by REACH members and volunteers., The cabin is constructed mainly white oak. Some logs from downed trees in South Park have been used to replace ones that could not be used. The sandstone used to cap the foundation and build the Rumford fireplace came from demolition projects in Mansfield. The fireplace took two years to complete. The cabin was named, "The Petersburg Cabin" and formally dedicated by REACH members and volunteers on November 4, 2021.