MARYSVILLE – Large stacks of wooden shakes had filled much of Gehl House at Jennings Memorial Park until June, when volunteers from Naval Station Everett cleared out the house and used the shakes to put a new roof on the pioneer cabin.
Their efforts will protect the house for the next 20 to 40 years, said Kenneth Cage, Marysville Historical Society president. The society owns and operates the home, which draws visitors eager to see how people lived during the city’s early pioneer days.
“They really put a lot of time and effort into it,” Cage said. “We are very, very grateful.”
This last week, sunlight bathed the new roof and seemed to make it shine.
The cabin was built in the 1880s in the Getchell area by John and Katherine Gehl, a Prussian couple who moved to America from what is now Germany.
The society purchased the cabin in 1982, dismantled it and moved it to Marysville, rebuilding it on land donated by the city. It is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day until Labor Day.
Cage had contacted the Navy about a year ago to see if volunteers would be willing to help on the project. They were.
The Navy sent workers who have been promoted and others from the Navy’s Seabees, who perform construction work for the military.
“It was an enormous help to us,” Cage said.
The society also is raising money for a $600,000 project to build a 6,300-square-foot historical museum on property it owns adjacent to the park.
A recent $5,000 donation from the Tulalip Tribes gives the society enough money to begin seeking matching grants. Already the society has paid for the architectural and landscape designs, engineering and permit fees, except for the final building permit.
The Tulalips’ grant “really helps us to move forward with our plans,” he said.
Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.
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