Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a complex of four tobacco sheds towards the west of Windsorville Road and the south of Chamberlain Road. Shed-I is located in the south-east corner of the property with Shed-II and Shed-III located towards its north-west. Shed-II and Shed-III are arranged with their gable sides facing each other with Shed-II towards the south and Shed-III towards the north. Shed-IV is located in the northern portion of the plot nearer to Chamberlain Road.

Shed-II and Shed-III: These are two 1 ½ - story gable-entry tobacco sheds with their ridge lines running north-south. The sheds are arranged with their gable sides facing each other and their east eave-sides facing Windsorville Road. Shed-II is a two-aisle eleven-bent tobacco shed while Shed-III is a two-aisle thirteen-bent tobacco shed. The main facades of the two tobacco sheds are their respective south gable-sides with two main entrances through two pairs of hinged wagon doors. The gable attics of the two main south gable-facades are separated by distinct girt siding divide lines and have a side-pivot awning window each, just below the apex of the roof. The tobacco sheds are ventilated through the vertical siding on the eave-sides in which every second board is hinged at the top and tilted out at the bottom by means of a horizontal cleat, that lifts several boards at once, and metal prop hooks to hold the boards in place. Shed-II has additional roof ventilation through five metal ventilators equally spaced along the ridge line.
The wooden frames of the tobacco sheds are supported on concrete footings and have asphalt shingle roofing.

Historical significance:

The tobacco barn, or shed as it is called in the Connecticut River Valley, is one of the most distinctive of the single-crop barns. They tend to be long, low windowless buildings with pitched roofs. They are characterized by vented sides to regulate air flow and allow harvested tobacco to cure at the appropriate rate.  Derived initially from the design of the English barn, the shed is composed of a fixed skeleton consisting of two- or three-aisle bents repeated at intervals of 15 feet to the desired length. The wood-framed bents sit on piers of stone or concrete and the bents are connected by girts and diagonal braces. Typically there are two doors at each end, making the shed a “drive-through,” although some sheds are accessed through doors on the sides. The interior structural framework serves a second purpose in addition to supporting the walls and roof of the building; it provides a framework for the rails used to hang the tobacco as it cures.

This is accomplished with one of four different systems (more than one method may be utilized in a single shed):

a) Vertical slats - siding in which every second board is hinged at the top and tilted out at the bottom by means of a horizontal cleat, that lifts several boards at once, and metal prop hooks to hold the boards in place;

b) Side slats - Vertical siding in which alternate boards are hinged along the sides to open like tall narrow doors, each held in place by its own hook;

c) Less commonly, horizontal siding in which alternate boards are hinged along the top edge and open like long narrow awnings; this system may be employed along the lower edge of the wall in conjunction with vertical or side slats;

d) A series of large doors along one of the long sides of the building with the other sides of the building vented by one or more of the other methods.

e) The tobacco sheds can have additional ventilation through side-pivot awning vents on the gable-ends, which co-exist with one or more of the above four systems of ventilation.

Field Notes

Tobacco shed behind recent subdivision. It is barely visible from the road. Also see part -1/2 http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/20806

Use (Historic)

• tobacco

Use (Present)

• tobacco

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

n/a

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Open Land
• Residential
• Rural
• Woodland

Relationship to surroundings

The 22 acres property, Map Number - 37 63 003, is towards the west of Windsorville Road, the south of Chamberlain Road and the north of Apothecaries Hall Road. The land with outbuildings is located in a predominantly residential area of rural character, across 121 Windsorville Road. Residential plots can be seen towards the east and further east of the property, across Windsorville Road while dense woodland covers the area towards the west and the north, across Chamberlain Road.

The property consists of four tobacco sheds scattered throughout the site. Shed-I is located in the south-eastern corner of the property with its ridge line running east-west, perpendicular to Windsorville Road. Shed-II and Shed-III are located towards to north-west of Shed-I: Shed-II towards the south and Shed-III towards the north. Shed-II and Shed-III are arranged with their gable sides facing each other and their ridge lines north-south. Tobacco fields with active agriculture can be seen towards the west of the Sheds-II & III. Shed-IV is located in a farmland towards the north nearer to Chamberlain Road, separated from the rest of the site by dense woodland. The ridge line of Shed-IV runs east-west and is surrounded by tobacco fields on all sides.

Building Typology

• Tobacco Shed

Materials

• Concrete
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Load-bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

Barn: 2048 SqFt, Circa 1900

Date Compiled

12/08/2010

Compiled By

T. Levine and M. Patnaik, reviewed by CT Trust

Sources

Photographs and field-notes provided by – John E. Harmon

Assessors’ records retrieved on December 8th, 2010 from website http://www.equalitycama.com/ 

GIS information retrieved on December 8th, 2010 from website http://www.crcog.org/gissearch/

Photograph/Information retrieved on December 8th, 2010 from website http://www.google.com

Information retrieved on December 8th, 2010 from website http://www.zillow.com

O’Gorman, James F., Connecticut Valley Vernacular: the Vanishing Landscape and Architecture of the New England Tobacco Fields, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, 144 pages.

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.