Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:

This is a 1 1/2 story gable-entry barn with a gable-roofed, pole barn addition that becomes a stable barn on the far end. The front gable-facade main entry is a large opening flanked by two slightly smaller openings. In the left and right corners of the front gable-facade are slightly smaller openings. Projecting off of the middle of the right eave-facade is the cross-gable gable-roofed addition, creating a t-shape formed complex. The barn is a free-stall dairy barn with no hayloft, metal roofing and has siding that is painted red.

Historical Significance:

Most ground-level stable barns and free-stall dairy barns built since the 1970s have no hayloft. Instead, the roofs are supported by prefabricated wooden trusses covered with metal roofing. While most single-story truss-roofed barns in New England are constructed with concrete foundations and stud-framed walls, pole barns with open sides are becoming popular, especially for sheltering large herds of dairy cows, heifers, and beef cattle. Many of these large truss-roofed structures are free-stall barns, introduced in the late 1940s.

The term dairy barn is used as early as the 18th century (along with “cow house”). Modern dairy barns are characterized by their interior arrangements of stanchions and gutters to facilitate milking and the removal of manure.  In some cases this is just a few stalls in the corner of a barn, in others it can be a large barn dedicated to that single purpose.

Field Notes

Working dairy farm, member of The Farmers Cow which markets Connecticut-grown milk and eggs. For six generations the Cushman family has farmed acreage located in North Franklin. Although Cushman Farm started on 155 acres at the homestead, the Cushman and Smith families manage nearly ten times that acreage today in Franklin, Lebanon and Bozrah, thanks in part to Connecticut’s Farmland Preservation Program. Their newest dairy complex includes a rotary parlor that milks 30 cows at a time, and their barn offers free movement and private stall space for nearly 600 milking cows. The calves and heifers are still raised at the home farm. The Cushman Farms employs 14 employees to manage its 900 acres of corn, 300 acres of grass and to milk the cows three times a day, every day. Each milking takes five hours, and each day more than 5,000 gallons of milk are produced—enough milk to supply a city the population of Norwich! To produce all that milk the cows feast on a mixture of corn silage, grass silage, canola, hominy and minerals. Oh yes, and bagels, too. The Cushmans and Smiths are founding members of Very Alive, and are active supporters of Farm Bureau, 4-H and Future Farmers of America. Each year they host a popular walk for the Quinnebaug Shetucket Heritage Corridor’s Walking Weekends through their operation and farm property. The partners of Cushman Farms look forward to continued growth for their family farm and Connecticut Agriculture. Nate Cushman, Jim Smith, David Smith & Don Smith Nate Cushman learned early that farming requires work: he milked 20-25 cows every morning before heading off to school. Partnering with his father on the family’s farm, Nate has watched the herd outgrow the stanchion barn built in 1955 to a new 105-stall freestall barn in 1966 into today’s 600-head milking center. Nate earned a BS and MS at the University of Connecticut in Agricultural Economics, and cultivated the growth of the family operation to accommodate future generations. Jim Smith represents the next generation on the Cushman Farms. Growing up and working on the farm through his youth, Jim and his brother Donald share the responsibility for managing this multi-location farming enterprise. Jim and his wife Kathleen have three sons. Source: http://www.thefarmerscow.com/ctfamily_farms.html Aerial photographs by G. Leslie Sweetnam.

Use (Historic)

• dairy

Use (Present)

• dairy

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Silo

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Residential

Relationship to surroundings

The barn is located on a farm complex and is one of many barns and scattered buildings located on the property. A silo is located to the left of the rear gable-facade.

Building Typology

• New England

Materials

Structural System

• Pole Barn

Roof materials

• Metal
• Tin

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

06/29/2010

Compiled By

S. Lessard and T. Levine, reviewed by CT Trust.

Sources

Field notes by Charlotte Hitchcock -10/03/2009

Aerial photographs by G. Leslie Sweetnam.

Sexton, James, PhD; Survey Narrative of the Connecticut Barn, Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Hamden, CT, 2005, http://www.connecticutbarns.org/history.
 
Visser, Thomas D.,Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings, University Press of New England,1997.