The building houses the original 1912 Stirling Boiler. This Babcock and Wilcox Stirling Boiler is one of only three original Stirling Boilers, that we are aware of, left in the U.S. As such, the boiler's preservation is of prime concern to the historical society. We view the boiler as the largest artifact we have in our growing collection of Barberton memorabilia.

Look for more photos and information on our website as this exciting project as it develops, and if you are in Barberton watch the building itself as it is being renovated.

Built in 1927 as an elementary school, Oakdale served Barberton for over 75 years before it was closed. Demolition of the building occurred in December of 2006, but at least the name stone will survive as part of the historical society's permanent collection of Barberton memorabilia.

In the above photo, the dust flies as Jeff Kelleher of the Barberton Historical Society uses a gas powered chop saw, donated by Edgar Rorrer of Historic Stone Restoration, to cut through the surrounding brick and mortar to free up the Oakdale stone.

Current plans for the dozen or so name and date stones the historical society has preserved over the years, are for them to be mounted on an inside wall at the Feed Barn. These stones include stones from commercial and school buildings demolished in Barberton including old Barberton High School.

At the 2006 Mum Fest, Michael Blaine of New Hampshire carved a ten foot tall black bear out of a black oak log supplied by the Barberton Historical Society. Blaine who travels around the country does intricate carvings using only a series of 18 different size chainsaws. Blaine is the four time International Extreme Power Carving Champion. Blaine is world famous for his statues of North American bears. It is interesting to note that a horse will not be forced to pass by one of Blaine's realistic bear statues, but will instead prefer to throw off its rider.

The Barberton Beautification Committee sponsored a Name the Bear contest at the Mum Fest. Over 400 entries were submitted and the name Mumford was picked by the Barberton Beautification committee for the sculpture. The contest was won by Curtis Burden, 10 years old, of Barberton. Congratulations to Curtis for a job well done.

At last year's Mum Fest you may remember that Michael Blaine carved a statue of Barberton's town founder, Ohio C. Barber. Blaine was chosen to do these wood carving as he is simply the very best.

The carvings of Mumford and O. C. Barber are intended for display in the new restaurants that are currently under construction in the O. C. Barber Heating House. You can visit Michael Blaine's webspace here: http://michaelfblaine.spaces.live.com/

Testa Companies, which rents the Brooder Barn from the historical society, has made a major commitment to Barberton by undertaking this massive interior restoration program converting the O. C. Barber Brooder Barn into a brand new daycare operation. The Brooder Barn was rescued from demolition by the Barberton Historical Society in 1983. Since then the City of Barberton, the Barberton Community Foundation, and the Barberton Historical Society have made major financial commitments to the preservation of this building. The preserved and accurately restored shell was then adaptively reused by Testa Companies to provide for this new modern and very hi-tech daycare operation. The great thing about this project, besides the fact that it adaptively reuses an historic Barberton building, is that it returns this building to the property tax roles and will provide employment for up to twenty people in the near future. The dollar impact from a project like this is therefore very significant to the City of Barberton.