[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 178 (Thursday, November 7, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6465-S6466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Barker House

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to 
talk about something positive that is happening in Ohio with the help 
of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
  The Army Corps is involved with some civic-minded community 
volunteers in something that will help preserve our history in Ohio. It 
wouldn't be happening but for the vision of the head of the Army Corps, 
Mr. R.D. James, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. It 
is a good-news project regarding the preservation of an important piece 
of the history of the Northwest Territory and my home State of Ohio. It 
is called the Barker House. It is a historic home that dates back 
almost 200 years. It was built by the owner's father, who was a 
Revolutionary War officer and a famous early settler and pioneer 
architect in Ohio. A number of historic homes of his were built along 
the Ohio River, and this is one of them that is still left standing. 
Colonel Joseph Barker, Sr., was his name, and he is one of our most 
famous early pioneers in Ohio.
  The House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 
1979 for its historic significance. In fact, Joseph Barker, Sr., and 
the houses he built play an important role in a new, award-winning book 
by the great historian David McCullough, ``The Pioneers,'' and it tells 
the story of the Northwest Territory and the founding of Ohio in the 
wake of the Revolutionary War. In ``The Pioneers'' book, Colonel 
Barker's stately homes were an anomaly out on the frontier. His own 
home was described as ``a large, brick house in the Federal style, with 
a handsome front door, flanked by recessed side windows and an 
elliptical fanlight overhead. . . . [O]nce completed the whole house 
was painted white, and soon became, as intended, a `distinguished seat 
of hospitality.'''
  This also describes the historic Barker House we are trying to 
preserve.
  These houses brought a level of architectural refinement that stood 
in sharp contrast to the log cabins on the rugged landscape where these 
pioneers were settling.
  The Barker House is currently owned by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers. It is owned by them because it sits right next to the Willow 
Island Locks and Dam on the Ohio River. The house was used as office 
space by the Corps back in the 1960s, and today, the house is still 
standing. It is vacant, in bad shape, and unsafe to enter, but it is 
savable.
  I visited this historic Barker House back in September of 2018. I 
learned then that the Corps was proposing to demolish the Barker House. 
They then considered a proposal to move it brick by brick to a new 
location off of Army Corps' land. Neither made sense.
  That is when I met Jack Haessly, who led a group--along with Wesley 
Clarke, Bill Reynolds, Bob Ferguson, and others--a local Barker House 
friends group who said they would be willing to raise the money to 
restore this home on its historic site overlooking the Ohio River. They 
wanted to make sure it would be accessible to visitors there and made 
into a museum.
  I immediately called the Secretary, Mr. R.D. James of the Army Corps, 
and

[[Page S6466]]

asked if he would reconsider the decision to demolish this historic 
home. After hearing the story of the house and the details of the 
group's plan to preserve it and after getting an assessment from the 
Army Corps, Mr. James agreed to reverse the Corps' decision and to work 
with us on preserving the home. He deserves great credit for that.
  Congressman Bill Johnson, who represents the area, has also been an 
excellent partner in pursuing these sensible solutions.
  Right now, we are working on developing legislation that I hope to 
introduce soon to convey the house and the surrounding land to the 
friends group. We have made a lot of progress so far. Just last week, 
the Corps completed drawings of the specific parcel proposed to be 
conveyed, which also includes the creation of an access road so that 
the house can be visited and enjoyed by the public. We appreciate the 
Ohio Department of Transportation and Director Jack Marchbanks for 
working with us on the road access. The road access issue was critical, 
and ODOT was very helpful. The Ohio State Historic Preservation Office 
has also jumped in and played a constructive role.
  This is an example of a true public-private partnership, made 
possible by Secretary James. I want to thank him, the Army Corps, his 
team, the Barker House friends group, the Ohio Historic Preservation 
Office, and ODOT. All of them are partnering with us to ensure that 
this historic structure remains standing so it can tell the story of 
our rich history for generations to come.