NEWS RELEASE

For further information contact:
Donna Herring, dmherring@earthlink.net, 740-924-0516
Karen Holt, karen.holt@yahoo.com, 740-924-9355

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (March 12, 2007):
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FIVE DAYS LEFT TO SAVE HISTORIC CAPTAIN SCOTT HOUSE 

Saturday’s Civil War Supper and auction raised enough money to bring the 
Friends of Captain Scott committee up to nearly 60% of the total needed to 
relocate the historic Captain Scott house in Alexandria. $35,000 must still be 
raised by this Friday, March 16, the ODOT deadline for commitment from the 
group to move the house. The 1870 Victorian Italianate home’s current site at 
the corner of state routes 37 and 161 is included in phase two of the S.R. 161 
widening project.

“Of the $35,000 we still need to make this first phase of the project fly – 
phase two is the restoration – about $25,000 must be cash,” said Donna Herring, 
chair of the Friends of Captain Scott committee, “but the rest could be in-kind 
donation of cement finishing for the basement floor, or basement plumbing, 
heating and cooling. Utilities for the historic part of the house will be 
planned later as part of the restoration. The $25,000 cash would be to make up 
the balance of the house mover’s fee plus cover contingency expenses.” 

“For our auction, 145 items were donated by companies and individuals from 
Columbus to Thornville,” said Herring, “and ranging from exotic herbs and power 
tools to Civil War relics. Chris Davis and his phenomenal crew at Auction Ohio 
donated their time and equipment. People came to support us from all over the 
county and from Columbus, and we raised over $9,300 with an event that was 
exactly eleven days in the planning from start to finish.”

The wide appeal of the project has mainly to do with the home itself, said 
Herring. “I am constantly meeting people who say ‘I’ve always loved that 
house!’” Last week, a family who wishes to remain anonymous stepped forward 
with a $10,000 donation. “This family had admired the house for years, too, and 
felt they wouldn’t be happy if they didn’t put themselves out to help save it,” 
said Herring.

The home was built for Joseph M. Scott, an outspoken abolitionist and locally 
prominent farmer and historian who earned his captainship in the Civil War. 
ODOT has given the house to the Village of Alexandria on condition that the 
structure is contracted to be moved by March 16, and is actually moved very 
shortly thereafter. The Village has no funds for a historic preservation 
project, and the Friends of Captain Scott committee of the Alexandria Community 
Council has stepped in to get the project organized and funded. The Alexandria 
Community Council is a nonprofit group active for over 75 years in support of 
community events and projects in the village and St. Albans township.

Columbus company Brookside Materials/Kurtz Brothers has donated space for the 
new location, on a former dairy property on the west edge of the village of 
Alexandria. Tom Kurtz said at the February 10th announcement of the donation, 
“We felt that if there was any way we could help the community without 
compromising our operations we would certainly do that.”

As in-kind donations towards the $80,000 total of expected relocation expenses, 
Aebersold Construction of Johnstown has donated footings for a full basement, 
Endsley Grading and Drainage has donated excavation for the basement, 
Hutchinson Materials of Alexandria has donated materials for the basement 
floor, Gutridge Electric of Newark has donated much of the new electrical 
service work, Baker’s Acres of Alexandria has donated landscaping, and Z 
Architectural Services has donated services for the siting and drawings. Other 
in-kind donations offered to help in the effort include interior design, 
photography, financial services, grant writing, and website design services.

Jim Endsley, of Endsley Grading and Drainage in Johnstown, says he noticed the 
house years ago because of its fine architecture, and he was the first to call 
the committee with an in-kind offer after the “Save This House” banner went up 
on the site. “Growth and development are changing our rural heritage,” said 
Endsley, “and this is a rare opportunity to preserve a piece of our history for 
the community.”

Current plans for the relocated home are that it would be used as a public 
museum and community center after its restoration. Endsley said, “In my 
conversations with people in the county about this house, what they like best 
about this project is the fact that it will be open to the public, a real 
community asset.”

Send your tax-deductible donations to the Alexandria Community Council, Friends 
of Captain Scott Committee, P.O. Box 234, Alexandria OH 43001, or contact Donna 
Herring, Secretary of the Alexandria Community Council (740-924-0516), email 
CaptainScott@AlexandriaOH.org. For further information see the website 
www.CaptainScottHouse.org.

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