Speakers Series, 2019 – Joseph Goss, Rediscovering a Local Log Farmhouse

In his talk, “Rediscovering the History of a Long-Forgotten Shepherdstown Log Farmhouse,” Mr. Goss will describe his determined efforts to research the history of the log home near Shepherdstown he and his wife Lynne purchased in 2011.

Local author Joseph Goss, will present the second talk in Historic Shepherdstown’s 2019 Speakers Series on May 22 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Shepherd University’s Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education. The talk is free and open to the public.

Having been told that the house was built in 1780, Mr. Goss set out to discover the cabin’s first owner, its age and boundaries, and to lay bare some of the house’s unexplored secrets. It was not an easy task. However, his fascination with discovering the building’s mysteries eventually led Mr. Goss to write the story of what he had learned. His recently released book, Frontier Cabin Story: The Rediscovered History of a West Virginia Log Farmhouse, will be available for sale at the Byrd Center that evening.

In his introduction to the book, Mr. Goss writes of his convictions about why this story needs to be told: “I believe the past owners and residents are an essential part of the history, spirit and energy of the house. I hope that this project will honor them and the other pioneers, both men and women, European and enslaved African American, who settled the frontier.”

Joseph Goss is an engineer who earned degrees from UC Berkeley and Stanford University. He served in the Peace Corps in Afghanistan in the 1960’s. He spent much of his career working to rehabilitate the aging water and sewer infrastructure of the DC region. He and his wife divide their time between the log farmhouse and the DC suburbs.

In addition to Mr. Goss’s talk, Historic Shepherdstown will mark Preservation Month in May by presenting its annual Preservation Awards. The Awards are given to local citizens who have contributed to historic preservation in Shepherdstown. In addition to the Preservation Awards, Historic Shepherdstown will present their first “Contributions to Historic Shepherdstown” award at the meeting.

Light refreshments will be served after the event.

For more information, contact the Historic Shepherdstown office at [email protected] or 304-876-0910.