Last Heritage House tour slated for Sunday

• Heritage House

The Heritage House was an addition built by Fredrick and Sophia Raths who moved to Woodbury from Germany and built the addition to their log cabin home on the farm in 1870. Staff photos by Riham Feshir
• Stove and iron

A stove was the only source of heat in the old days. A heavy iron sits on the stove before it's heated up to iron clothes.
• Kathryn Ho

Dressed up in a vintage costume, Kathryn Ho knits at the Woodbury Heritage House. She volunteers to host tours and open houses from June through September.
• Interior of the house

Artifacts and original furniture sit at the Woodbury Heritage House.

Talk about it

It was a time when everything was made by hand, farming was big in Woodbury and a stove was the only source of heat.

That time, and things that came with it, is being preserved at the Woodbury Heritage House.

You can see it off of Radio Drive and Lake Road. It’s the little white house built in 1870 as an addition to a farm and log-cabin home established by Fredrick and Sophia Raths.

The Woodbury Heritage Society holds public open houses the second and fourth Sunday of the month from 1-4 p.m. June through September.

A Sept. 23 open house will culminate this season’s tours, where many children learn about ancestors, new residents realize Woodbury was a lot different back then and volunteers share their knowledge of the city’s history.

Many of the items at the Heritage House have been donated by families who once used them in their daily lives. A number of things are original, while a few have been brought in to showcase and complete the museum.

A butter churn, once featured in the 1898 Sears Catalogue for $3.50, sits by the window that used to be a doorway to the log cabin. Families would make seven gallons of butter by hand using the machine, volunteer Kathryn Ho said.

On the opposite side of the room is the stove, laundry area and dining table and chairs.

Ho said children have been visiting the Heritage House to learn about the city’s history and see things they’ve never seen before.

“We especially like younger people to come in because they’re living in a world where they can’t even imagine not having a TV in the car,” she said.

Most of the items have been collected over the years and more will continue to be added.

“If the Heritage Society wasn’t here, those little pieces of history would more than likely disappear,” she said.

To see more of the city’s history, stop by the open house from 1- 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23.

Tags: area news, news, woodbury