A group teaching workshops on restoring old architecture is helping the town of Dayton preserve a very old wall.

On Friday, members of the Drystone Conservancy taught workshops on stone-masonry to volunteers. A group of 20 went to Eberly Road to repair a pre-Civil War rock wall.

The wall, which had been built by slaves, had deteriorated and fallen down over the past few years. By doing this, the group not only learned new skills but also preserved history.

Neil Rippingale, a stone mason, says, "Today, they're working totally on dry stone, with no mortar. We're working two components of friction and gravity only. No mortar, no cement. And on the retaining wall here, as you can see in the background, they're working really well."

The cost of having the volunteers work on the project is $3,000, compared to a projected $100,000 if the work had been done by a private contractor.