Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a series of three tobacco sheds arranged with their gable ends facing each other: Shed-I towards the east, Shed-II in the middle and Shed-III towards the west. The ridge lines of the three tobacco sheds run east-west parallel to the road. The following is the description of Shed-I and Shed-II while Shed-III is discussed in http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/38217.

Shed-I: This is a 1 ½ - story gable-entry two-aisle tobacco shed which appears to be five-bent. The south eave-side of the shed faces Wagner Lane with the ridge line running east-west parallel to the road. The west gable-end of the shed is the main façade with two main entrances through two pairs of X-braced hinged wagon doors with blacksmith hardware. The gable attic is separated from the rest of the façade by a distinct dropped girt siding divide line and has a window opening just below the apex of the roof. The tobacco shed has a system of ventilation through the vertical siding on the eave-sides in which alternate boards are hinged along the sides to open like tall narrow doors, each held in place by its own hook.

Shed-II: This is a 1 ½ - story gable-entry two-aisle tobacco shed which appears to be five-bent. The south eave-side of the shed faces Wagner Lane with the ridge line running east-west parallel to the road. The west gable-end of the shed is the main façade which originally appears to have two main entrances through two pairs hinged wagon doors. The entrance towards the north on the façade has been replaced by an over-head garage door.  The tobacco shed has a system of ventilation through the vertical siding on the eave-sides 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 frames of both the tobacco sheds, Shed-I and Shed-II, are supported on concrete footings. The sheds have vertical siding walls and 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 - 2/2 : http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/38217.

Use (Historic)

• tobacco

Use (Present)

• unknown

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Other

Environment features

• Commercial
• Open Land
• Residential

Relationship to surroundings

The 2.64 acres property, Map Number - 11 10 029B, is a rectangular plot towards the north of Wagner Lane, with its longer side abutting to the road. The property is situated in a mixed use area surrounded by parcels of open land towards the north and the west. The property is flanked by a residential plot on west while commercial units can be seen towards the south, across Wagner Lane.

The three sheds are located along the northern edge of the property arranged in a series with their gable ends facing each other: Shed-I towards the east, Shed-II in the middle and Shed-III towards the west. The ridge lines of the three tobacco sheds run east-west parallel to the road. The circa 1841 main residence of the property is located towards the south of Shed-I with a driveway on its west. The plot has an open space for parking in its southeast corner with the southern edge defined by timber fence.

Building Typology

• Tobacco Shed

Materials

• Concrete
• Vertical Siding

Structural System

• Load-bearing Masonry
• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

Roof type

• Gable

Approximate Dimensions

Shed: 5952 SqFt, Circa- 1841; Shed: 1440 SqFt, Circa- 1841; Shed: 1856 SqFt, Circa- 1841; Frame: 768 SqFt, Circa- 2000;

Date Compiled

03/02/2011

Compiled By

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

Sources

Field notes and photographs provided by: Jessica Bottomley.

Assessors’ records retrieved on March 2nd, 2011 from website http://www.equalitycama.com/ 

GIS information retrieved on March 2nd, 2011from website http://www.crcog.org/gissearch/

Photograph/Information retrieved on March 2nd, 2011 from website http://www.google.com

Information retrieved on March 2nd, 2011 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.