Historic Barns of Connecticut

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural description:

This is a barn complex of six tobacco sheds towards the south of Wagner Lane delineated into three clusters based on their similar character, orientation or physical proximity: Cluster-A, Cluster-B and Cluster-C. The following is the description of Cluster-C while Cluster-A is discussed in http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/23938 and Cluster-B is discussed in http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/23941. 

Cluster-C: This includes the two tobacco sheds in the southeast corner of the property with their ridge lines running east-west, almost parallel to Wagner Lane but perpendicular to South Main Street. The sheds are arranged with their eave-sides facing each other with Shed-V towards the north and Shed-VI towards the south.

Shed-V: This is a 1 ½ - story gable-entry two-aisle tobacco shed which appears to be eleven-bent. The east gable-end of the shed facing South Main Street is the main façade which has two main entrances at the center through two pairs of hinged wagon doors. The siding on the façade appears to be recently replaced. The tobacco shed has a system of ventilation 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-VI: This is a 1 ½ - story gable-entry two-aisle tobacco shed which appears to be eleven-bent. The east gable-end of the shed facing South Main Street is the main façade which has two main entrances at the center through two pairs of hinged wagon doors with an awning window just below the apex of the roof. The west gable-end of the shed appears to have been renovated and has two entrances through two over-head garage doors. The tobacco shed has a system of ventilation 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.

The wooden frames of both the tobacco sheds, Shed-V and Shed-VI, have asphalt shingle roofing and vertical siding walls apart from the east gable-end of Shed-V and the west gable-end of Shed-VI which appear to have new siding painted light yellow.

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 1/3 : http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/23938 Part 2/3: http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/23941

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
• Shed

Environment features

• Active Agriculture
• Commercial
• Open Land
• Residential

Relationship to surroundings

The 19.5 (approx) acres property is located towards the south of Wagner Lane with a very narrow frontage to South Water Street on west. It is located towards across plot number 21 Wagner Lane (Map Number - 11 10 029B) and to the west of 10 South Main Street (Map Number - 13 11 003AII). The property is situated in a mixed use area surrounded by commercial units towards the east and the north, across Wagner Lane. Residential plots can be seen towards the west of the property while parcels of farm land cover the area towards the south.

The property includes six tobacco sheds scattered over the site, separated by parcels of farm land. For easy identification and description, the site has been delineated into three clusters of tobacco sheds of similar character, orientation or close proximity.

Cluster-A: This includes the two tobacco sheds towards the north and the west of the property with their ridge line running east-west parallel to Wagner Lane. Shed-I is located along the northern edge of the property abutting to Wagner Lane while Shed-II is located towards its southwest, nearer to South Water Street.

Cluster-B: This includes the two tobacco sheds along the eastern edge of the property with their ridge line running north-south, perpendicular to Wagner Lane. The sheds are arranged with their gable-ends facing each other with Shed-III towards the north and Shed-IV towards the south. Concrete bollards marking the property line of the abutting plot towards east can be seen along the east eave-sides of the two sheds. 

Cluster-C: This includes the two tobacco sheds in the southeast corner of the property with their ridge lines running east-west parallel to Wagner Lane but perpendicular to South Main Street. The sheds are arranged with their eave-sides facing each other with Shed-V towards the north and Shed-VI towards the south. Shed-VI is also accessed by a driveway from South Main Street on west which forms a parking lot along its north eave-side.

Building Typology

• Tobacco Shed

Materials

• Vertical Siding

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Structural System

• Wood Frame

Roof materials

• Asphalt Shingle

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Roof type

• Gable

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Approximate Dimensions

n/a

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, 2011 from 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.bing.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.