Rob Portman: “I would like to take this opportunity to talk about something positive that is happening in Ohio with the help of the…”

“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.…”