By Girl Scout Gloria

Historic preservation means to me to fix and protect historic or old, objects and heritage. When someone fixes an old corn crib to make it look like it once did, that is historic preservation.

Not only is historic preservation about preserving objects and buildings, but someone or group’s heritage. Historical heritages and cultures are being lost these days due to American TV and technology, so part of historic preservation is to conserve their heritage for the future. For example in this area of America, heritage conservators focus on the creole heritage.

To me historic preservation means to fix/ protect historic things, but that is based off my experiences as a Girl Scout and throughout my life. Historic preservation can refer to preservation in multiple areas.

While working on my silver award I learned how to measure and sketch out blue prints of a room, how to debark a log, make a brace to hold up the logs of the corncrib, and I learned about the state historic signs. The skills I learned from this project will be very helpful for the future. For example I can use the ax again to debark or cut wood or I might need to make a brace for something. All the new skills I learned while getting my silver award will be useful skills.
Mr. Jason Church taught us how to measure and blue print a room when we were getting our Historic Preservation patch also about the state historic signs. Mr. Dan and Mr. Matt taught us how to debark logs using an ax and how to make braces to hold up the corncrib also how the corn crib was constructed. I also learned some other small skills like how to use an electric drill, and so on. Every skill I learned while doing my silver award was well enjoyable and I was taught a lot.

Magnolia Plantation is a special plantation here in the south because of some of the special facts about it. For one the National Park Service doesn’t own the plantation house, only the slave cabins, black smith shop, corncrib, pigeon cage, overseers home, the general store, and the cotton gin. The cotton gin out at Magnolia is special because it is one of the only original cotton gins left in America. The slave cabins are some of the only brick slave cabins that we know of still standing.

An interesting story I learned while working on my silver award is about the plantation home. During the Civil War the home was burned down in a section, so instead of rebuilding that section using new bricks they used bricks from the slave cabins. Now there are only a hand full of cabins left due to that incident and a tornado. Magnolia still had sharecroppers until the mid-1900’s living in the cabins and everything. I learned a good bit of information I found interesting, while working at Magnolia Plantation on my silver award.

Working on my Girl Scout silver award has taught me what historic preservation means, skills for the future, and about Magnolia Plantation. I enjoyed my work out on the corncrib, learning new stuff and getting hours toward my silver.