Two recognized for historic preservation

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By Dan King

Two Whitehall residents were recognized Monday for their dedication to historical preservation.

In 2009, Joe Arquette and the late Marvin Brooks constructed a 1700s replica log cabin and an adjacent herb garden. That log cabin is still nestled along the banks of the Champlain Canal near the Skenesborough Museum.

The Whitehall Historical Society recently placed a plaque on the cabin, commemorating the work the two put into building the cabin from scratch. Members invited Arquette and Brooks’ wife, Lorraine, to be present for the plaque presentation.

“Marvin Brooks came up with the idea to show people how everyone lived in the 1700s,” said Carol Greenough, the museum director. “He really did a lot of research.”

The idea came after the historical society received a grant in 2009, marking the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain coming to America.

“There was a lot of interest back then,” said Lorraine.

Inside the small cabin is a bed built into the wall, showing how people of the time slept, and the tight living quarters that they dealt with.

“They would sleep inside and they would cook outside,” Greenough said. “They would grow the herbs and vegetables right in the herb garden too.”

Greenough said that typically these cabins would be located along water bodies, and ironically enough the replica cabin is right on the Champlain Canal.

Not only does the cabin itself depict the old way of living, so does the way Arquette and Brooks made it. When building the roof shingles on the cabin, Marvin used a froe, an old tool used to split wood along the grain.

“He made it the way they would have made it back in the day,” said Lorraine.

“That’s Marvin,” added Arquette with a chuckle.

Some new perennials and herbs have been planted in the accompanying herb garden recently by Teresa Austin.

“It’s nice to see that there’s people who care about it,” said Lorraine.

Greenough said there are often instances where visitors to the museum come in and ask about the log cabin.

“It’s definitely something that people are interested in,” she said. “Joe and Marvin just did a great job with it.”