Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a barn complex towards the north of Thrall Road which includes a 1 ½ - story eave-entry barn and a 1 ½-story three-aisle tobacco shed. The south eave-sides of both the barn and the shed face Thrall Road while their ridge lines run east-west, parallel to each other and the road.

Tobacco shed: This is a 1 ½ - story three-aisle tobacco shed with entries from both the gable-side and the eave-side. The main façade of the tobacco shed is the west gable-facade with the main entrance at the center through a pair of Z-braced hinged wagon doors. The gable attic above is separated from the rest of the façade by a distinct dropped girt siding divide line. The south eave-side of the shed has an entrance off-centered towards the west through a pair of hinged wagon door with blacksmith hardware. The tobacco shed is ventilated through 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.

The wooden frame of the shed is supported on concrete footings and has 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

Also see part - 1/2 : http://www.connecticutbarns.org/editor.cgi/21100

Use (Historic)

• tobacco

Use (Present)

• animals, not listed

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn

Environment features

• Open Land
• Residential
• Rural

Relationship to surroundings

The 5.74 acres property, is towards the north of Thrall Road, situated toward the east of plot number 17 Thrall Road, Map Number - 37 60 016A. The property is located in a pre-dominantly residential area of rural character flanked by residential plots towards its east and west. Parcels of farm land with active agriculture can be seen towards the north and the south, across Thrall Road.

The barn is located in the south-western corner of the property nearer to Thrall Road while the tobacco shed is towards its north. The ridge lines of both the barn and the tobacco shed runs east-west, parallel to each other and Thrall Road. The main residence of plot number 17 Thrall Road can be seen towards the north-west of the barn. A patch of open land can be seen towards the north of the shed while parcels of farm land can be seen towards the east. The north eave-side of the tobacco shed opens into a fenced paddock.

Building Typology

• Tobacco Shed

Materials

• Concrete
• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

• Load-bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

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Roof type

• Gable

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Approximate Dimensions

n/a

Date Compiled

12/02/2010

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 2nd, 2010 from website http://www.equalitycama.com/ 

GIS information retrieved on December 2nd, 2010 from website http://www.crcog.org/gissearch/

Photograph/Information retrieved on December 2nd, 2010 from website http://www.google.com

Information retrieved on December 2nd, 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.