Hi all you historically minded posters,
I’ve acquired a barn that I’ve dismantled and will be re-erecting on my property. It’s pretty early. This is Central NY, I think about 1820’s. Looks to be pre-greek revival to me.
I’m very curious as to what this barn might have been used for originally. The interior is broken up into three spaces. Two-thirds on left are one large plastered and windowed area. One third on right is two little rooms with a chimney in between. No hearth, just a thimble. Room on the right has brick infill between the studs. Basement is fully plastered ceiling, brick veneer on front wall of cellar.
It was a working turkey farm in the 20’s and there is graffitti on the plaster dating to about 1907. Any thoughts on it’s historical use/evolution? Why the brick? Why the detail in the cellar?
Here’s an exterior shot:
Here’s the large interior space:
Here’s the two small rooms at the other end:
and here’s the brick lined room:
Edited 11/16/2007 10:10 pm by mmoogie
Replies
Can't help you on the historical details, but if you put this tag <p> before each new paragraph and photo, everything will line up.
Cleaned up the alignment nicely. Muchos Gracias.
Can't say for sure that what you see is original .
Be my guess that what you have in the plastered part is a cheese room.
Used to make and press the cheese .
The brick infilled room was an aging room.
Brick was to keep rodents and vermin out as well as to help keep the room at a more constant temp. (thermal mass)
Bet there was a larger barn nearby for dairy cattle.
Thimble wasn't a chimney at all, it was simply a fresh air vent. Somewhere in one of my old books I have a drawing of a similar set up .
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
But there most definately is a chimney. It's in the rear of the two little rooms, not the brick-lined one. And there is a thimble cut out of one piece of bluestone built into it. and it's covered with creosote.
See this exterior shot for the chimney:
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Beats me then . I am of no help at all.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
You mean like that barn in the background? Yes, cheese makes sense. Why the plastered ceilingin the cellar and brick veneer on the cellar wall, and why not on all the cellar walls, only the western one?
Someone locally thought the the whole thing might have to do with the turkey operation, the brick-lined room being to keep the hatchlings warm.
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Plaster was probably white washed, which is a fairly effective anti bacterial coating. Plus the plaster would have been easy to keep clean, cheese making requires keeping stray bacteria out of the cheese if possible. No answer on why the brick on only one wall though.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
This is only my guess as to the use, may well be for the turkey operation as your other source said.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Thanks for the conjecture. It seems very likely. I think the turkey operation came later than these features were added to the barn. The construction details of the little rooms and such all seem circa mid 1800's, not 1920's.I sure would love to see that drawing you have of the similar setup if that's at all possible...Steve
I will see if I can dig through my stuff and find it. That building couldn't or wouldn't have simply been a dwelling way back when huh?
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
That was my thought...small house. Maybe for a farm hand.
I guess that's possible. Maybe for hired hands. It's definately back amongst the working buildings of the farm. I'm thinking the large room seems more like it must've served some commercial purpose. It's about 500 SF in the large room.I still like the cheese hypothisis. We have cheese factories around here that date to that era, though they tend to be much larger structures. There is a huge three-storey one near here that is really intact. Very interesting barn.
That's quite a building to be called a barn complete with basement, fireplace, clapboard siding...
Edited 11/16/2007 10:48 pm ET by rez
It's going to be my garage next year...going on this slab with the addition of a shed addition on the back to handle the snout of my truck.
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Steve
Those summertime pics like that are ruthless with the thoughts of coming winter.
Still thinking it was originally more than a barn.
I guess I use the word barn pretty liberally. I use it to cover a wide range of outbuildings, like wagon shops, cheese factories, etc. While it may have served as housing on some level, I still think it had some intended use other than or in addition to housing because of the open floor plan, no hearth or chimney in the larger space, and the brick infill in the northwest corner. The slider was definately added later though. Maybe it was some kind of live-in workshop or something.
It's similar in a lot of ways to another building that I've modeled my shop after (the building to the right of that slab). The model for that is shown below. It's a drover's shed behind a wealthy doctors house. IT has a large open dirt-floored bay to the left for a carriage, and two very finished trimmed and plastered rooms to the right, with raised framed floors. Just about exactly the same size too. No cellar though.
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Well I got to thinking about cheese making and thought I remembered that some or most cheeses required heating as a step in the preparation. Indeed it is so . Check this out :http://www.vermontdairy.com/farm_to_you/cheese That may explain the chimney if this place was what I first guessed. Plaster finished walls would have been unusual in most any temporary help housing except at the wealthiest of farmsteads. IMO. But an article in Wiki on cheese says that by 1850 cheese making factories were quite the thing in this country. the US apparently took the lead in such endeavors. Plaster in out buildings generally indicates a clean room for some sort of processing. Could well be the original homestead, could be an outbuilding converted to other uses over time. BTW any "Spring House" located near the barns? Fun thinking about this one. Thanks for the opportunity.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Thank you for your time and thought. I really appreciate it.Where are you based, by the way? I enjoy your posts.Steve
I am about 40 miles SW of Portland Or. Grew up just west of Cleve. Oh.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
I'm no expert by any means but looking at it i could help but think it was living quarters at one time. I think in the past there were a lot more people who drifted. All they really wanted was just about room and board and you had some help. You wouldn't want them sleeping in the house.
I'm agreeing with others who question its agricultural origen - the only 'ag' feature is the sliding door that was added in the 20th century -
if it were for processing, you should be able to find remnants/remains/suggestions of water/drainage -
farms weren't built in a day or year - what's the chance that your 'barn' is the first farmhouse - later relagated to utility use as the homestead prospered?
"there's enough for everyone"
Here's a thought. Possible that the one room with the thimble was a sleeping room or hired hand room/milk maid room ? Small stove placed in it? The other would have been for finished cheese storage perhaps?
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
I would guess it was originally a farm house replaced by a larger structure later. 12 Over 8 windows would have been awfully expensive for a barn.
Jack
The ramp into the barn comes to mind it may have garaged a carriage or wagon. ????
I admire you for rebuilding it , i know i could never do that, The first time i tryed to nail in that old wood i would cuss and throw my hammer and go buy brand new studs
This one is going to try my patience, I think. Was probably a foolish thing to take it on. The roof had been bad for a long time. Rafters are useless, Rafter plates are nearly so, and lots of punky post ends. Surprisingly, the sills were not too bad. There will be more new wood than old in it when done.The windows are all I really wanted. Should have stopped at that, but old is what I love.Steve