[ Part - 1/3 ] (00 Reservoir Road, East Windsor (Central Valley))

Designations

n/a

Historic Significance

Architectural Description:

This is a barn complex of eight tobacco sheds delineated into three clusters based on their similar character and physical proximity: Cluster-A located in the north-east corner of the property, Cluster-B towards the northern edge abutting to Reservoir Road and Cluster-C towards the south.

Cluster-A: This includes the three 1 ½ - story three-aisle eleven-bent tobacco sheds located in the north-east corner of the property with Shed-AI towards the north and Shed-AII towards the south. The third tobacco shed, Shed-AIII is staggered towards the south-west of Shed-AI. The ridge lines of the three tobacco sheds run east-west perpendicular to East Road with their east gable-sides facing the road. The main west gable-facades of the three tobacco sheds are oriented away from the road with the main entrances at the center through a pair of hinged wagon doors with blacksmith hardware. The gable attics of the main west gable-facades are separated from the rest of the façade by a distinct girt siding divide line and have two side-pivot awning windows towards the eaves and another similar side-pivot awning window just below the apex of the roof. The tobacco sheds are 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. Additional ventilation of the roof is also provided through a continuous ridge vent.

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

Also See - Part – 2/3 : http://www.connecticutbarns.org/33560 Part – 3/3 : http://www.connecticutbarns.org/33563

Use (Historic)

tobacco

Use (Present)

tobacco

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Demolished

n/a

Location Integrity

Unknown

Related features

Barn

Environment features

Relationship to surroundings

The 17.7 acres property, Map number –27 57 016-01, is a corner plot towards the south of Reservoir Road and the west of East Road. It is situated in a residential area of rural character, surrounded by parcels of farm land. A few tobacco sheds can be seen towards the north of the property across Reservoir Road while residential plots can be seen towards the north-west, south-east and east across East Road. Farmland with barns can also be seen towards the east while dense woodland surround the property on its south-west and south.

The irregular shaped polygonal plot includes three clusters of tobacco sheds: Cluster A located in the north-east corner of the property, Cluster B towards the northern edge abutting to Reservoir Road and Cluster C towards the south. A tract of dense woodland separates Cluster A from Cluster B & C. Patches of open land can be seen towards the south of Cluster A & Cluster B and towards the west of Cluster C.

Cluster A: This includes the three tobacco sheds located in the north-east corner of the property with Shed-AI towards the north and Shed-AII towards the south. The third tobacco shed, Shed-AIII is staggered towards the south-west of Shed-AI. The ridge lines of the three tobacco sheds run east-west perpendicular to East Road. A patch of open land can be seen towards the south of the tobacco sheds while dense woodland can be seen towards the west.

Cluster B: This includes the two tobacco sheds towards the northern edge of the property with Shed- BI towards the north and Shed-BII towards the south. The ridge lines of the tobacco sheds run east-west, almost perpendicular to East Road. The north eave-sides of both the sheds face Reservoir Road. Dense woodland can be seen toward the east while patches of open land can be seen towards the south.

Cluster C: This includes the three tobacco sheds towards the south-east and the south of the property with Shed-CI towards the north, Shed-CII towards the south and Shed-CIII staggered towards further south-west of Shed-CII. A patch of open land can be seen towards the west of the three sheds while dense woodland can be seen towards the south.

Building Typology

Tobacco Shed

Materials

Approximate Dimensions

6400 SqFt, Circa 1940

Date Compiled

11/02/2010

Compiled By

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

Sources

Assessors’ records retrieved on November 2nd , 2010 from website http://www.equalitycama.com/

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

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

Information retrieved on November 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.

Historic Barns of Connecticut

Barn Record East Windsor