18th-century Hempfield log house being donated to Historic Hanna's Town

A late 18th-century log house in Hempfield will be moving 7 miles to join other buildings at Historic Hanna’s Town.

Westmoreland Historical Society Executive Director Lisa Hays said the house and funds associated with the move are being donated by the LeFevre estate.

“It will help us to create, in a better way, the village feel of Hanna’s Town,” she said.

The Westmoreland County commissioners recently approved the house’s relocation to Hanna’s Town, which was established in 1773. The village was the first county seat. The first English courts west of the Allegheny Mountains were established there.

The 180-acre county-owned historic site is home to several log houses, a wagon shed and other buildings.

Hays said the property from which the log house is being donated belonged to the Myers family in the mid-17th century. The LeFevre house will be dismantled and rebuilt at Hanna’s Town.

“They were interested in having it donated to Hanna’s Town,” Hays said. “The family took good care of the grounds and the house.”

A group from Indiana University of Pennsylvania will visit Hanna’s Town later this month to prepare an area for the house in an effort to preserve any archaeological items of significance.

In one of the final conflicts of the Revolutionary War, Hanna’s Town was attacked and burned July 13, 1782, according to the society. The county seat was moved a few miles away to Greensburg in 1786 and Hanna’s Town became farmland in the early 1800s. The society is pleased to be able to preserve the house.

“We will also use it for educational purposes,” Hays said. “We have many ideas for how to use this house.”