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.
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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-
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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.
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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)
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