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When we think of recyclable material we usually think of aluminum or copper, but for some people the best recyclable materials are found in log cabins.

Robert Barker, director of Artcroft, was on site at the Charles Williamson farm, near Headquarter, last week disassembling the logs from a historic cabin that sat near the road. The cabin will be reassembled on Artcroft property near Barterville and will be used as part of an artistry residency program sponsored by Artcroft.

“The logs are old and the cabin may date back to the late 1700s,” said Charles Williamson from his front porch, where he witnessed the slow but steady process of removing the logs one at a time and loading them on various wagons.

The cabin was a two-story structure and the logs appeared to be as solid as the day they were joined together.

“The logs are all poplar logs,” Barker said. “I can tell from some square nails we’ve found that the structure goes back to at least the 1850s and may be much older than that,” Barker said.

New artists will be in residency at Artcroft beginning in the middle of August and Barker and others have put great effort into enhancing the artistic environment of the landscape and residency surrounding the facility.

“We try to focus on traditional things at Artcroft,” Barker said.

Log cabins are becoming increasingly rare in the area and individuals who wish to recycle the historic logs seek existing structures.