E2-LjncMter Farming, Saturday, February 13, 1988 These Old Bams Have A Story To Tell It BY GINGER SECRIST MYERS Adams Co. Correspondent CARLISLE—Nancy Van Dol sen is a city-girl from Philadelphia that has always loved building and American History. This young lady’s educated eye for architec tural design and a learned love for her new home in this area are being utilized to help preserve agricul tural history in Cumberland County. Van Dolsen is the Project Direc tor of the Cumberland County Resource Survey in conjunction with the Cumberland County His torical Society. Her work is the result of the National Historic Pre servation Act of 1966 which requires the states to survey and research all structures built before 1940 to determine which sites might be eligible of the National Registry of Historical Places. Work in Cumberland County started in July of 1984 and is sche duled for completion this summer. Similar work is currently being done in Clinton County. Of the 67 counties in the state, only 11 have been completed, while some pro ject work has been done in 41 counties. The program is funded by matching grants-in-aid to the states for historical resource surveys and planning projects. To date Van Dolsen and an assistant have surveyed over 10,000 sites in Cumberland Coun ty, of which about 1200 building were further researched. The type of sites included in the survey have been bams dating from 1760 to 1910, industrial sites, such as grain mills, brick kilns and even a blacksmith shop, bridges, and all 18th Century building still in tact. While all this would seem to be distant from today’s farming pic ture in the county, Van Dolsen stresses that the project has several benefits for the community. In documenting her work, funds donated by the Cumberland Coun ty Farm Women have been utilized to prepare a slide presentation on the farm sites, the means of con struction, and agricultural prac tices-and concerns of the day. Van Dolsen has presented these slides to groups like Farm Women, the Rotary Club, and local classrooms. Van Dolsen has found that this has helped to heighten the com munity’s historical awareness, stressed the need for preservation of not only the farms but the rural structures, and has stressed the importance of agriculture in the county’s history. Having already viewed 10,000 sites and just now finishing her master’s degree work with the University of Delaware in Ameri can history with an emphasis on early architecture, Van Dolsen has a pretty good idea what a site might .iddlesc -owi. ship In Cumberland County typifies the agricultural architectural design prevalent of farmsteads In south cen tral PA. Nancy Van Dolsen, Project Director of the Cumberland County Resource Survey points out a 13’ long stone in the end of one of Cumberland County’s most beautiful stone end barns. The barn was built in 1858 by Jacob Waggoner. The stone mason, Steve Losh, carved his name in the stone. Losh was from Perry County. date on the county records. Still, she follows a set process for each survey. The survey’s work is divided into municipalities. Working with geological maps and inserting dots and marks from previous county census, she can determine all structures built before 1952. Van Dolsen then drives to the site and requests permission from the owner to take an exterior photo of the site. Van Dolsen stated that with the advance press releases and heightened interest in the pro ject’s work, most people have been very cooperative. She then interviews the present owner for information on the records and dates of ownership and asks about any uusual architectural features they might be aware of. Van Dolsen notes that she has become very proficient at recog nizing additions or window ;hanges that might foretell of an earlier dating than the present owner may have realized. Once she has determined that a rite warrants further investigation, i detailed survey form is com- Dieted. This form includes such information as the date of original instruction, period, style, lescription, significance, and bibliography. Copies of the survey are then sent to the state, the own er, the municipality, and one is retained for her file. Finding such information on each site is no small task. Van Dol sen revealed that the 1798 Direct Tax was based on the number of windows a structure contained, so this serves as one of the ben chmarks for dating a structure. Other sources she uses are deeds, tax assessment records, wills, Orphan’s Court records, county newspapers, and genealogy files. Van Dolsen lists as her most his torically significant find the dis- A m covery of the home of General William Thompson. Thompson, who had a colorful military career during the American Revolution, was known as an Indian Trader, and surveyor. Locating his home has attracted both local and federal interest. She explained, “The house is very small, but is totally intact. No one even knew it was there. The property is owned by an absentee landlord. It’s surprising that the building wasn’t tom down by now.” Another interesting site was the discovery of a local blacksmith shop. Two generations of the same family worked there and had their names carved on the exterior of the door. When she surveyed the sue she found tools that were 130 years old, all ranked m place near the forge and bellows. Still, the sites Van Dolsen finds attracts most people’s attention are the old bams in the county. These include log bams, brick-end bams, stone-end bams, and Pennsylvania frame bank bams. The survey has found only 12-15 standing log bams in the This shows the detailed framing of a stone barn In Monroe Township In Cum berland County. This barn has been demolished since this picture was taken. In Middlesex Township In Cumberland County is one of the few which still sur vive. It was built in the late 19th Century. The State wanted to tear It out and put in a newer one since it does not meet current standards. The Zelgler Families how farm here are now maintain ing its upkeep. .%’j> ./x i i This brick-end bam was built by Jacob Mumma in 1861. It is located in Monroe Township In Cumberland County. Brick-end barns are found only in central Pa and northern Maryland in this country. Historians still do not know where the designs for these barns originated. county and most of these were on the western side. Van Dolsen feels sure there arc more of these type bams standing but most have been covered with another material. These bams were the easiest to construct and expand and served a variety of purposes. The locality’s brick-end bams are the most unique architectural design in this area. Brick-end bams are found only in northern Maryland and central Pennsylva nia. Stated Van Dolsen, “No one knows for sure where the patterns for the brick-end bams originated. There is a honeycomb or wheat sheath pattern found on some bams in England, but we don’t know anything about the other patterns.” Stone-end bams in the county date from 1780 to 1860. The ends and foundations of these bams were constructed of limestone or field stone. The stone could be X- Ml I J This is the Frederick Watts Farm located in North Middle ton Township. This was built as a model tenant farm in the mld-lBoo’s by the man who founded Penn State University. The 100 acre farm Is scheduled to be paved over by ABF Trucking Company to put In the country's largest truck terminal. The side-wall and enterior framing of the Frederick Watts’ PA Bank Frame Barn shows the quality of workmanship used that has kept this barn standing for over 130 years. -iv i. r* t -! ■»” rough or smooth cut. Van Dolsen noted that often a farmer had the end of his bam facing the road more finished than the end away from the road. Sometimes only the end facing the road was done in stone and the other end might be framed. This reveals the pride a farmer took in his bam and the good impression he hoped a hand some barn might make on passersby. Pennsylvania frame bank bams are by far the vast majority of the bams found in the county accord ing to Van Dolsen. These bams were erected between 1860 and 1920. They range in size from the smallest being 30’ by 40’ to the largest at 40’ by 80’. Their style includes both English type and full Pa. bank bam lay-outs. One site that has drawn consid erable public interest is the Freder ick Watts Farm located just north (Turn to Page E 3) 3 m - *• j 1 ■ « s> h £ &*A ‘ » , , f I * .*
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers