HomeMy WebLinkAboutBarns tell story of changing landscape.pdf Barns tell story of changing landscape
By SUE THOMPSON
Special to The Journal
Barns are vanishing monuments in our rural
landscape. In 1875, there were 318 farms in the
Town of Enfield, which includes, we can
assume, at least that many barns. A year ago,
Enfield Town Supervisor Gary Fisher suggested
starting a collection of photos and histories of
the barns in the town. The town historian's
collection now has digital files of approximately
130 structures. We still need a lot of the history
of these barns.
Barns in Enfield had their traditional use in
farming, and they also were used as churches
and homes. The first barn built in Enfield was on
the Judah Baker property in the vicinity of
Enfield Center, in 1806. This barn was also
used as one of the first churches in Enfield. In
1835, the Methodist church held class meetings
in a barn at Bostwick's Corners. The barns
within the Enfield Center area were used to
temporarily house the workers who were
building the railroad bed for the Sodus Bay
Railroad in the early 1870s.
Barns were mentioned in the diaries of various
Enfield residents. Jared Newman, whose family lived on the south side of Enfield, refers to
attending the barn raising of his Uncle William, on June 31, 1877, on Colegrove Road. In
Emma Rolfe's diary there is mention of the barns belonging H. Curry and S. Curry burning in
fires in June and July of 1898. In August 1899, lightning struck and burned the Swick's barn.
In August 1900, fires struck four more barns near Trumansburg in Ulysses, and in 1901 and
1902, the barns of Piersons and Cull burned.
As farms went out of business, the barns were torn down and the lumber sold, as on the
Warnea Ramsey and Lovelace farms on Mecklenburg Road. The barns that existed at
VanDorn's Corners were torn down; these barns were reportedly used to hide stolen horses.
Some of the barns of the town have been converted into homes; there are two on
Mecklenburg Road.
There are approximately 55 barns that can be described as English barns. These are the
more traditional rectangular barns. An example of these can be found on Enfield Main
Road. Twenty-six of the barns have a Gambrel roof, (that is, they look like typical big hay
barns with the fancy roofs). Some may be found on Aiken and Fish roads. Unusual barns
are the steep gable (Gothic Revival style) barns located on Gray and Harvey Hill roads.
Bibliography
Town Historian’s Collection Town of
Enfield
– 1904,
Enfield Town Historian’s Collection Town
of Enfield
Barn – Elaine Perry, Perry Dice Farms,
Buffalo
The Town of Enfield New York,
Christian Hill to Enfield Falls, Sue
Thompson, Enfield Town Historian,
members of the Enfield Historical
Society 2002
Guided Tour — Dryden Historical
Society, Dryden, New York. 1988
Musuem on Main Street – Web Site
Smithsonian Institution:
www.museumonmain street.org/
Some barns still exist only in pictures. We have a 1920 picture of a barn that was behind my
own home on Enfield Center Road, which was referred to as the Laughlin farm. John
Warren Laughlin purchased the farm for his mother and father, Ida and William Laughlin.
The barn was a large Gambrel-roofed, bank barn, surrounded by an apple orchard.
Perhaps when we further investigate our rural history, we should include not just the history
of agriculture in Tompkins County, but also the architecture of the barn buildings as well.
Sue Thompson is the Enfield Town Historian
Originally published July 9, 2005