Kristen de Graauw of The Historic Timbers Project presented poster displays last Wednesday to Nick LaCasse of the Greenbrier Historical Society and Carolyn Stephens of the Williamsburg District Historic Foundation.
The displays outline the tree-ring dating results for the Barracks in Lewisburg and McCoy Fort in Williamsburg.
Coincidentally, both the Barracks and McCoy Fort were found to be constructed sometime around 1799, the year in which logs were felled for these structures.
Tree-ring dating can be a useful tool to prove the time line for log construction, it is a science called Dendronchronology. The more studies that are done on historic log structures in Southeastern West Virginia, the stronger the database can be. Both of these structures were built of White Oak
Project McCoy chairperson Carolyn Stephens was quite grateful. “Our museum in Williamsburg was wishing for an opportunity to have the McCoy structure dated. This program was an opportunity to participate in a program and get testing done that we couldn’t afford otherwise!”
The posters will be displayed in the Barracks and the Williamsburg Museum. These displays mark the conclusion of this project, funded by the West Virginia Humanities Council and West Virginia University.
