Preservation Maryland

Hands-On Preservation Training at the Saylor House in Washington County

05/21/2019
By Preservation Maryland

The Washington County Historical Trust is leading the restoration efforts of the Saylor House on the banks of the Antietam River in Hagerstown, Maryland. This small stone house that dates to around 1800 will be the site of two public hands-on training workshops this summer.

HISTORY OF THE SAYLOR HOUSE

Peter Saylor built a small stone house on the banks of the Antietam around 1800. The house played a role in the Antietam Fish Company, one of America’s first documented fish conservation and stocking companies in the 1820s. Later, the building housed many families until the mid-1960s, at which time it was abandoned. The Saylor House was donated to the City of Hagerstown with the Kiwanis Park property by David Lyles in 2016. The Washington County Historical Trust stepped up to partner with the City of Hagerstown to give the house a new purpose to save it from the wrecking ball. Situated on the banks of the Antietam, the house is a perfect venue for education classes on historic building trades, historic buildings of Washington County, archaeology, outdoor recreation, and numerous environmental education topics. The house, while currently uninhabitable is structurally sound. The Washington County Historical Trust invites all Marylanders to support the restoration of the Saylor House by volunteering through the building trades workshops to restore this historic treasure to a functional educational space on the banks of the Antietam.

MASONRY WORKSHOP AT THE SAYLOR HOUSE

JUNE 8 & 15 OR JULY 13 & 20
$75/PERSON, INCLUDES MATERIALS
KIWANIS PARK
371 Dynasty Drive
Hagerstown, MD 21740

Join the Washington County Historical Trust to learn how to make repairs to existing stone and brick structures and to help in repairing the historic building, the Saylor House, at Kiwanis Park. The two-day hands-on workshops will introduce and train participants in the Jahn masonry repair systems that can be used on historic stone and brickwork. The class will discuss traditional masonry practices, demonstrate mortar analysis to understand the mortar you are trying to replace, and demonstrate and practice mixing up mortar. We will practice test samples to achieve a match with existing mortar, discuss and practice proper mortar removal from existing masonry, and learn different methods of installing the new mortar mix. Participants will learn how to apply different styles of pointing as well.

Learn more about the saylor House

Register for the workshops