Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

The property has six tobacco sheds and a barn distributed throughout the site. For easy identification and description, the site has been delineated into three clusters of tobacco sheds and barns of similar character or close proximity: Cluster A with three tobacco sheds, Cluster B with two tobacco shed and Cluster C with a tobacco shed and a barn.

Cluster C: This includes the tobacco shed, Shed-CI, and another 1 ½-storey eave-entry barn, Barn-CII, located along the southern edge of the property. Shed-CI is towards the west with its ridge line running east-west perpendicular to the road while Barn-CII is towards the east with its ridge line running north-south.

Shed-CI: This is a 1 ½-story gable-entry two-aisle seven-bent tobacco shed. The main façade of the shed is the main east gable-façade facing Scantic Road with two main entrances through two pairs of hinged wagon doors with blacksmith hardware. The gable attic above is separated from the rest of the façade by a distinct girt siding divide line and has a side-pivot awning window just below the apex of the roof. The shed is ventilated through the vertical siding on the eave-sides where every second board is hinged at the top and tilted out at the bottom by means of a horizontal cleat, that lifts many boards at once, and metal prop hooks to hold the boards in place.
The wooden frame of the tobacco shed is supported on concrete footings and has asphalt shingle roofing.

Barn-CII: This is a 1 ½ - story four-bay eave-entry barn. The main façade of the barn is the east eave-façade facing Scantic Road which has two open bays towards the south and two window openings towards the north.
The wooden frame of the barn has vertical siding 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

n/a

Use (Historic)

• tobacco

Use (Present)

• unknown

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Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

• Barn
• Other

Environment features

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

Relationship to surroundings

The 29.79 acres property, Map Number - 39 23 030, is towards the east of Scantic Road in a pre-dominantly residential area of rural character. Residential plots can be seen towards the north and the east of the property across Scantic Road while dense woodland covers the area towards the west, north west and the south-west. Parcels of farm land with tobacco shed flanks the property towards the south while Meadow Oak Farm is located towards the north-eat, across the road.

The land with outbuildings has six tobacco sheds and a barn distributed throughout the site. For easy identification and description, the site has been delineated into three clusters of tobacco sheds and barns of similar character or close proximity.

Cluster A: This includes the series of three tobacco sheds towards the eastern edge of the property. The sheds are arranged in a row with their gable-sides facing each other with Shed-AI towards the east, abutting to Scantic Road, Shed-AII at the center and Shed-AIII towards the west.  The ridge lines of the tobacco sheds run east-west perpendicular to Scantic Road. Parcels of farm land with active agriculture can be seen towards the north and the south of Cluster A.

Cluster B: This includes the two tobacco sheds towards the western edge of the property with Shed-BI towards the east and Shed-BII towards the west. The two sheds are arranged with their gable-sides facing each other, in line with the three sheds of Cluster-A. The ridge lines of the tobacco sheds run east-west perpendicular to Scantic Road. Parcels of farm land with active agriculture can be seen towards the north and the south of the cluster while dense woodland can be seen towards the west.

Cluster C: This includes the tobacco shed, Shed-CI and the 1 ½-storey eave-entry barn, Barn-CII, located along the southern edge of the property. Shed-CI is towards the west with its ridge line running east-west perpendicular to the road while Barn-CII is towards the east with its ridge line running north-south. The eastern eave-façade of Barn-CII opens into a fenced area. Parcels of open land with active agriculture can be seen towards the north of the cluster while the tobacco shed and the farm land of the adjoining property can be seen immediately towards the south.

Building Typology

• Other Shed
• 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

Barn: 1128 SqFt, Circa 1920 Barn: 3072 SqFt, Circa 1920 Barn: 5120 SqFt, Circa 1920 Barn: 6944 SqFt, Circa 1920 Barn: 4960 SqFt, Circa 1920

Date Compiled

12/01/2010

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 1st, 2010 from website http://www.equalitycama.com/ 

GIS information retrieved on December 1st, 2010 from website http://www.crcog.org/gissearch/

Photograph/Information retrieved on December 1st, 2010 from website http://www.google.com

Information retrieved on December 1st, 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.