The Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania is pleased to be traveling to the “Great Valley” of Pennsylvania for its 2011 Annual Meeting and Historic Barn Tour. This two-day event is scheduled for Friday, June 17th and Saturday, June18th, beginning with a special evening touring an historic barn owned by one of HBFF of PA’s directors, Eugene Wingert, Loudon Road, Saint Thomas.

This massive barn is located on the old Wilson homestead, along what was formerly the Old Forbes Road. It is a prototypical Franklin County brick Sweitzer barn, according to HBFF of PA’s Vice President Greg Huber. “It possesses the distinctive rear brick out-sheds. Its great end-wall brick patterning is a powerfully expressed local building tradition and it reflects several of the barns on this year’s annual HBFF of PA barn tour,” he commented. “These brick barns have never been seen before seen on any of the previous years’ HBFF of PA annual barn tours. They are great treats to behold and will not soon be forgotten.”

Members and non-members are welcome to participate in this educational and social gathering in Franklin County. There will be a banquet at the St. Thomas Fire Company following the Friday afternoon barn tour Wingert’s farm. The tour begins at 4 p.m. and the banquet will begin at 6 p.m. Barn documenter Phil Schaff of Chambersburg and HBFF of PA director Dianna Heim will present an informative program entitled: “Cumberland Valley Barns: Past and Present—Brick End Barns of Franklin County” following a brief business meeting of the HBFF of PA.

Phil Schaff, a native of Chambersburg, began working in a local camera store around 1964. He spent a decade working for that business. He photographed nature and landscapes over the years. Since 1999, he has been working on a project to document Franklin County’s brick-end barns. This resulted in the release of a poster depicting nineteen of the 109 (so such barns in the county. The poster was made possible through the Chambersburg for the Arts and several local historical societies. Since retiring in 2004 from a 28- year career as a fuel truck driver for McCleary Oil Co., Phil enjoys being able to spend more time taking photographs.
Dianna Heim will be speaking about the men and women who built the Franklin County barns, sharing stories related to her by an old barn builder who provided a wealth of information on how he, his father and his grandfather raised barns. She will provide us with information about how the Civil War affected the farms in the area, and how the barns were used during that time,She will share the progression of log to brick-end barns in the valley.

According to HBFF of PA secretary, Ken Sandri, the “Great Valley” of Pennsylvania was part of the early migration routes for American immigrants moving west from the colonial settlement areas on the east coast of the new English colonies. The earliest settlements and then cities began near harbors and major rivers where commerce flourished. One of America’s first and greatest economic opportunities came in its ability to utilize wide expanses of land to feed its citizens and later export its harvests to the world.

“The highly fertile lands of the Lehigh and Cumberland alleys became a natural thoroughfare for settlers going west that were looking to acquire their own land to clear and establish an agrarian lifestyle. Franklin County is an unbroken extension of the wide fertile land called the “Great Valley.” Early in the 1700s and into the mid-1800s, farms were established to produce the crops that helped expand America. These farms still operate y,” Sandri said.

Saturday will be devoted to touring eight historic barns in Franklin County. A boxed lunch and tour at the Conococheague Institute, Mercersburg, will divide the day of historic barns. Saturday’s schedule begins at 8:30 a.m. starting from the lot across the street from the Four Points Sheraton, 1123 Lincoln Way East, Chambersburg, PA 17201 and concludes at approximately 5 p.m. All participants in Saturday’s tour must ride on the bus. Reservations are required to participate in either or in both days’ events.

The cost of each day’s event is $60 for HBFF of PA members and $85 for non- members. Spouse price is $40 for members and $60 for non-members. If a non-member participates in both Friday’s and Saturday’s event, the member price applies to the second day. For more information, contact Sheila Miller, president, at 610-589-5617 or go to the website: www.pahistoricbarns.org to download a registration form.

This is the circa 1790 Berger Log Switzer barn west of Shartlesville in Berks County. Shown is a view of the distinctive early English style Principal and Common Rafter System.

Generations have come and gone in southeast Pennsylvania since the very first German settlements occurred in the area. The initial place of German occupation was Germantown in the northern region of Philadelphia in the 1680’s.  Since then, untold thousands of log buildings including barns whether they were the ground one-level variety or the bank two-level variety have gone the way of the dinosaur. The log barn as a vernacular building expression has similarly nearly completely disappeared but several dozen of these barns can still be seen and are eking out an existence east of the Susquehanna River and south of the Blue Mountains. Other log barns appear in other areas of the state. Back in the late eighteenth century thousands of such area barns existed. But surely the present time amounts to the eleventh hour for these rare buildings. All German settled counties in southeast Pennsylvania still have a few log barns lurking about and Berks County is one of them.

At this very late stage perhaps 300 years after the first German log barn was built in Berks County about twenty of the barns in the county survive at various homesteads – some close by an easily accessible road and others way back on land much removed from any main road. A few others are seen plain as day such as the log Switzer that stands a few feet south of Old Route 22 about one and one-half miles west of Shartlesville. No excuses allowed not even to octogenarians who pass by – the logs of the near end wall of the barn close to the road are easily seen and are shouting out to be appreciated. This barn may soon go the way of the saber tooth tiger – never to be seen again.

Two Types of Log Barns in Pennsylvania
Almost all log barns come in basically two forms. The first is a one-story ground level structure where all main functions except crop storage of the barn occur on the ground level where animal stabling in the side bays and threshing occur on the wagon floor in the middle bay. An excellent pre-Revolutionary War example can be seen on Route 662 in Pricetown. The other form is a two-level bank structure – the early Switzer type that includes a distinct basement level for stabling of animals and an upper or top level for threshing and mow crop storage. Ground barns were principally built from likely early in the eighteenth century to somewhere in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Switzers were similarly erected at the same time. There are certain prototypes of Switzers that were borrowed from early European log barn traditions – specifically from cantons in eastern Switzerland.

Switzers have asymmetrical roofs. The lack of roof balance is derived from the fact that a distinctive cantilevered fore-bay appendage like structure appears at the front of the barn. In addition, interior framing units seen in the main section of the barn are not included in the fore-bay. The much more prevalent later style Standard barns have symmetrical rooflines and because of this they have framing units contained within the confines of the cantilevered section that also appears at the front of the barn at the upper floor level. The Shartlesville barn belongs to the Switzer category as do most of the remaining log barns in Berks County.

Shartlesville Barn – Built 1790 – 1800
The Shartlesville barn is also known as the Berger barn as the family of that name occupied the homestead lands many decades ago. Three main buildings occupy the old farm – the rare log barn and two buildings across the road – the main house and another log building just east of the main house. The dates of construction of the two buildings on the north side of Old Route 22 have not been determined. It appears that the log barn was likely built in the 1790 to 1800 era.

The Berger Switzer is of three-bay construction as were many log Switzers. The 2 four-log wall units or cribs (each crib is a bay) and middle wagon bay constitute the three bays. Exterior dimensions are 46 feet 2 inches on the long side walls (front and rear walls) and 25 feet at each end wall. In addition, the front fore-bay section of frame construction is 6 ½ feet wide. The exterior log walls were likely originally sheathed with vertical siding as were the end walls above the logs as well as the front fore-bay wall. At present the front fore-bay wall is mostly covered with narrow non-original vertical chestnut siding applied to the wall perhaps 75 or more years ago.

The roof slope it will be noticed is fairly steep. The roof covering was likely wood shakes apparently none of which remain. Thatch could have been used and only a very old photo of the barn would reveal the possible presence of such.

Functions Performed in the Barn
Farm wagons loaded with farm produce entered the barn at the rear wall through the big main wagon doors. The original doors disappeared long ago. Wagons went up onto the threshing floor where most of the original planks are intact some of which are up to nearly a foot and a half wide. The wagons were un-loaded and the contents were distributed into both log cribs at the sides of the cribs adjacent to the wagon floor and then piled high up to or near the roof peak. Crops were also placed at a height of about eleven feet above the threshing floor that long ago was called the oberdenn. Threshing or breaking of the seed from the chaff of various farm grains was performed on the floor.

Early English Type Roof System
The barn roof structure proves that German builders of two centuries ago borrowed from certain English traditions. Just the opposite is not true, English builders did not normally incorporate German traditions in their barns. The roof system or structural expression in the Berger barn is known as a Principal Rafter System. Strictly German style barns took on certain English framing manners beginning about 1790 or so. This blending of two cultural ways – in this case German and English – is a process called acculturation. This phenomenon also occurred in roof systems employed in German houses. A Principal Rafter System is denoted by large rafters – often up to 10 to 12 inches wide in the middle that taper in cross-section to both their ends. The Principals run from the eave wall to the roof peak and they alternate with varying numbers of smaller Common Rafters. In the Berger barn four Principal trusses or framing units appear. The bottom ends of the Principals join to timbers called upper tie beams that sit atop the combination log and frame walls adjacent to the threshing bay in both end bays. In other area barns that are often of stone wall construction Principal trusses can number up to five or even six (rarely). Normally in 1790 to 1830 barns three or four trusses were incorporated into the roofs. In the Berger barn the Principals alternate with considerably smaller Common Rafters. The Commons are hewn and also stretch from the roof peak to the wall plates. The arrangement of the Commons among the two main trusses is the following – four – four – four – that is – four Commons appear above each log crib or mow and a like number appears over the wagon floor for a total of twelve Common Rafter pairs. Certain other barns have distinctly different Common Rafter arrangements. Except for the log cribs the roof structure is the Berger barn’s most prominent feature. After about 1830 other barns very typically had only Common Rafter systems (with no Principal trusses) – the earlier barns had hewn rafters and later barns had milled rafters. To complete the full picture of roof rafters in the Berger barn it appears that some of the rafters in the front fore-bay barn section are hewn and may well be original. These rafters join to a wall plate that sits on top of the front fore-bay wall.

Purlin plates appear in the barn. Such plates are typically placed in barns from end wall to end wall and help support the Common Rafters. In some barns they appear in single timber lengths and other purlins in other barns are spliced. However, in the Berger barn the purlins are actually pieced – that is – they are not of one long timber. The three purlin pieces per roof slope appear staggered between adjacent Principal trusses in the barn and are placed about half way up each slope. They add longitudinal stability to the roof of the barn.

Three-Bay Construction
Widths of the three bays vary only a little. The end bays or log mows are each about 15 feet wide and the middle bay is just over 16 feet wide. The near log crib is log on three walls – the end wall and both side or eave walls. Spaces several inches wide appear between adjacent logs. On the front wall except the top two spaces all spaces are chinked or filled with “mud” mixed with straw. The presence of such chinking in a log Switzer is extremely rare. One late eighteenth century log Switzer near Schaefferstown in Lebanon County that was recently dismantled had such chinking but apparently to a less degree. However, chinking in log houses is always seen. The function of the chinking in the Berger barn is unknown but could possibly be related to excluding vermin from entering the mow or perhaps fire prevention. Other possibilities are possible. The mow wall adjacent to the threshing floor is both log and frame and this combination of logs and framing in one wall exactly as seen in the Berger is very unusual but not unique. The frame length may have been included in the fabric of the wall to offer a smooth surface for the inclusion of a so-called mow-stead wall. The log sections or log “returns” each run close to six feet from the front and rear corners. The logs at each of their inner ends join to fair sized posts. The frame length of wall runs 13 ½ feet and it is this section that the mow-stead was placed which was 45 inches high up from the floor. Mow-stead walls in barns normally consisted of several horizontal boards one on top of the other all of which are now gone. Such walls in Pennsylvania bank barns were virtually always present. The opening in the frame section of the wall adjacent to the threshing floor from the top of the mow-stead wall to the log just under the upper tie beam is close to 7½ feet and this large opening allowed access to the mow for crop storage.

The far end mow may have also originally been of three log walls. The wall adjacent to the middle bay too was apparently of log and frame but the fabric of the log section and the frame section still basically intact are quite disrupted from the original condition but suffice to say that enough evidence remains that the two walls of each end mow facing the threshing bay were almost identical in construction. The “almost” term as a qualifier comes from the fact that the wall adjacent to the threshing floor of the near log crib has an opening 29 inches high by two feet wide that appears in the “log return” closer to the rear barn wall. Both top and bottom logs are notched to help create the opening. At the one side is a board secured to the adjacent logs with wrought nails that imply originality to the barn. The exact function of the opening is unknown but may have been for access for farmers to drop farm crops to the basement below.

Above is the “log return” toward the rear wall of the intact log crib close to the main road in the Berger Log Switzer.

The front wall of the far end mow is actually completely missing. The far end wall is of frame construction and the wall has two long diagonal or angled studs done in German style and a built-in ladder appears that is likely not original. At the far end of this end mow is an added single bay and when this addition was built the original far end mow became a second wagon bay. It appears that when the one-bay addition was constructed the walls of the far end mow were radically altered.

Corner Notching of Log Walls
The type of connection at the corners of the log walls is referred to as dovetail notching. This specific corner notching becomes more and more common toward the west end of Berks County. In the eastern third or so of Berks County and into Lehigh and Northampton Counties corner connections in log buildings is of a type called inverted V-notching. Logs of the log walls in the Berger barn vary in height from about 10 to as much as 15 inches.

View of dove-tail notching at corners of log walls in log crib at the fore-bay side of Berger Switzer.

Likely the biggest timbers in cross-section in the barn are the wall plates that sit atop the side walls. They are not in single lengths of timbers but are spliced or pieced together with what are called scarf joints. The plates are about 11 by 11 inches in cross-section. In many Pennsylvania bank barns the wall plates are sometimes among the largest timbers.

One-Bay Addition
A bay was added at the far end of the original three-bay barn section perhaps forty to sixty years after the construction time of the original barn. The fourth or added bay is 14 ½ feet wide. This bay has five common rafter pairs and all rafters are hewn. A single canted or angled purlin plate appears on each roof slope which is in part supported by a canted queen post at each side of the far end wall of the added bay. These posts emanate from the top tie beam at the end wall. This added bay functioned similarly to the bay closest to the road in that stored farm crops appeared from floor to near the roof peak.

Beyond the fourth bay is another barn section with an angled single roof slope in lean-to fashion. It may have functioned as a cart shed. The lower parts of the two intact walls are of stone but above the foundation walls the section is almost completely ruinous.

Basement
In the original three-bay barn section a peiler eck or peer corner appears at each of the end walls at the front corners of the barn. These are ell-shaped stone formations that help support the barn walls above. The inner surfaces of each peiler eck are curved which is a construction refinement not always seen.

A single summer beam near the ceiling appears in the big single room area of the basement. This beam stretches from the near end wall to the original far end wall and it helps support the floor above. The summer beam about 8 by 9 inches in cross-section is spliced at one point with a simply executed scarf joint.

In a unique treatment at the rear basement wall the ends of the transverse ceiling joists sit on top of a six inch thick longitudinal beam. This feature had never been seen before by the author in more than thirty years of documenting barns.

At the near stone end wall no doors appear which is not unusual for a Switzer barn but is very common in Standard barns. It was at this end of the basement where horses were stabled – toward the house end of the barn. One beam was set into the stone wall with a series of holes for hooks to hang harnesses. Cows were stabled at the far end of the basement. All original stable wall double Dutch doors have disappeared but one remnant door half may be attached to the interior of the front fore-bay wall. At the far stone end foundation wall two windows can be seen that have original shutters – a quite rare occurrence. Each window about two feet square with typical pegged upper and lower corners is painted white but rear face battens are painted black which is an unusual choice of color. The inner far end wall is very finely pointed – the areas between stones were filled very carefully with mortar.

In the basement of the one-bay addition are longitudinally placed joists for support of the floor above. This area may have also acted as a cart shed.

Summary
The Berger Switzer although not in pristine condition is nevertheless an excellent example of an early two-level log barn that remains in Berks County. All the features and dimensions described above may be regarded as the sum total of all what amounted to  careful and deliberate decisions that were made more than two centuries ago to erect a barn on what was then a main country road. Just as today, it was a road that was traversed by countless thousands of people and travelers. The barn is now taking its last breaths on the land where it was built as the current owner has plans to have the barn removed. Perhaps when the barn is removed modern travelers who often use the road might sense that something is missing from their view – something that withstood the ravages of times and ever changing farming economies for many decades. The original farmers and builders at the Berger homestead have been gone for close to two centuries and their last tangible efforts in establishing the farm just west of Shartlesville in creating a place to store their crops and keep their animals is about to go the same way. And with it a consciousness steeped in traditions that helped forge it will be lost forever.

As an example of a Switzer the Fox barn has an asymmetrical roof silhouette where the distinctive front frame extension or fore-bay creates the barn class. This barn type whose earliest cousins likely initially appeared on the landscape in the middle third of the eighteenth century is in marked contrast to the later style Standard fore-bay barn that has a symmetrical roof. With exterior dimensions at 49 feet long and 25 feet wide the Fox barn is medium sized. The separate front fore-bay is of normal width – 7 feet. The roof pitch is rather steep.

The original section of barn is of three-bay construction – a middle wagon or threshing bay and two log cribs – each about 16 feet wide. At the front of the wagon floor the big wagon doors appear to be very old or possibly original. The entire floor is original with a few planks up to 16 inches wide. Roof support timbers or rafters are 16 in number and all are hewn. The logs of both cribs are good sized but it is the bottom logs that face the wagon floor that are massive – one is 21 inches thick and the other is 24 inches thick. The distinctive notching of the logs at the corners is referred to as full dove-tail type. This type of notching is common in the western half of Berks County and areas to the west. This is in contrast to the inverted V notching seen in both barns and houses that is common in eastern Berks County and points east. The door that leads to the granary is original and has very unusual wrought hinges. The presence of cut nails with square heads on horizontal boards of the granary indicates a likely date of construction in the post 1815 era.

Submitted by Greg Huber – September 16^th 2008

Past Perspectives – specializing in House Histories

(abridged version; complete copies can be purchased by contacting the HBFF of PA for $5 each)

Casper Maul Stone Ground Barn Dated 1791

The Casper Maul barn is a ground barn located in Oley Township. There is no basement in a ground barn – no distinct functional area appears below the wagon bay. The Maul barn is also called a boddam or bottom barn. In the German dialect it is grundscheier.

Two photos of the 1791 dated Maul barn appear in Charles Dornbusch and John Heyl’s classic barn book – Pennsylvania German Barns. The barn is 60 ½ feet along the front wall – one of the longest seen in any early ground barn in Pennsylvania – and 33 ½ feet at each of the end walls.

A liegender Dachstuhl or early style German roof structure with four main trusses is seen in the Maul barn.

Both mow-stead walls are almost completely original and boards are secured with early style wrought nails. On the cow side of the barn are at least three boards 18 inches wide. There is one “doodle” area that has five concentric circles – the outermost one is 32 inches in diameter. The threshing floor consists of mostly original planks up to 15 inches wide. The Maul barn retains a great deal of its original features.

Jacob Keim Homestead – with Early 1750’s Stone House – Ancillary Building and Unique Double Fore-bay Barn

The excellent Jacob Keim homestead offers a wide array of German buildings. The main attraction of the old farm is the large and early main two-section house of all stone construction. The earlier section is from 1750’s and is replete with early German construction features and other details including an extremely rare original second floor chevron door.

The stone ancillary house that stands only about 15 feet from the main house is a rarity as only a few other German homesteads have them. The roof ridgeline is at a distinct angle to the roof ridgeline of the main house. The steep pitched roof is now covered with red tile distinctive of early German house roof coverings.

At the rear of the main house is a unique two-level bank barn. It has no banked or ramped condition at the rear wall. It does have however a cantilevered condition or fore-bay at each side or eave wall. The barn measures about 44 feet long by about 32 feet wide. A hay hood door appears at the roof peak at the one end wall for entry and exit of farm crops.

Diener – Fillman Log Switzer
The Diener Log Transitional Switzer in extreme southern Pike Township is the only log barn that was visited on the tour. Although Berks County still is home to almost 25 log barns, the county two hundred years ago was the residence of hundreds of such generic structures. The earlier style Switzer barn is distinguished from the later and very common Standard barn type in that the Switzer has an asymmetrical roofline and interior framing units that are not contained with the distinctive appendage like fore-bay at the front of the barn. The Diener barn is called a Transitional Switzer in that the end walls fully extend to a point that is in line with the front fore-bay wall.

The one log crib is composed of four log walls while the far crib has one frame constructed wall adjacent to the one wagon bay. The logs are joined at the corners by squared v – notching that is so often seen in eastern Berks County and areas east. West of the Diener barn location half dove-tailed and full dove-tailed corner notching becomes progressively more common in both barns and houses out to Lancaster and Lebanon Counties.

Bertolet-Coker Stone Classic Switzer – Dated 1787

This early barn in Oley Township at the Bertolet homestead is what might be called a masterpiece of barn construction. It is one of the most outstanding barns in not just all of the Oley Valley but in the entire state of Pennsylvania. This is the Bertolet stone classic Switzer in Oley Township. There is a 1770’s two-story stone house with addition and a small stone cabin that is said to have built in the 1730’s. The Bertolet family was of French Huguenot origin and they settled in the Oley Valley in the early 1700’s.

The stone Switzer is actually the older of the two homestead barns. The other barn is a Standard type and is immediately adjacent to the Switzer and is dated 1837. The Switzer barn is, except for the front fore-bay, made completely of stone construction including to the peaks at both end walls and the rear wall and part of the rear wall of the fore-bay. End walls have the very distinctive vertical ventilator slits or splayed loopholes that are commonly seen in pre-1830 barns.

Barn dimensions are not unusual where the end walls are each 33 feet long and the barn length is about 65 feet. The front fore-bay extension is six feet. The barn is of three-bay construction – two end bays and a single wagon bay that has a rare extension at one side below an equally rare swing beam. Tethered horses swung around below the swing beam for the threshing of grains. While the main wagon doors are not fully original the so-called haar-hung doors still swing on their original vertical pivot poles. The doors are extremely rare in any type of barn in Pennsylvania and have ancient roots in Europe. The carved date of 1787 with names of the Bertolet family is seen on the lintel beam above the wagon doors. There are two other exterior features of very particular note. The first is the very rare mostly original short projecting pent roof at the basement level toward the house side of the barn that protected animal and human entries at that end of the barn. The other feature is the extremely rare completely original early style plank stairway that appears at the front of the basement stable wall that leads to the fore-bay. Perhaps even more rare is the fully original wooden trap door with unusual German hinges at the top of the staircase that forms part of the fore-bay floor.

German families often stored their grains in the attics of their houses in much of the eighteenth century. Later they apparently stored grains in closed or walled in spaces in the fore-bays of their barns that were called – appropriately enough – granaries. It appears that the Bertolet barn has the earliest original granary in any barn in Pennsylvania in the fore-bay at the far end of the barn. The ceiling and the walls of the granary formed by wide boards are all secured with wrought nails. The granary door itself is original with rare type wrought metal hinges. Even the grain compartment bins within the granary are formed with partition walls that are mostly original.

The 1837 Standard barn at the homestead is very typical in most regards for a frame constructed bank barn. Built precisely one half century after the stone Switzer was constructed the later barn resulted from the ever expanding need for greater crop storage space that most farms in the northeast experienced during the Industrial Revolution. The craftsmanship in the newer barn is much less fine than that found in the original barn. The two barns offer a wonderful study in contrast between two very different eras of building construction traditions.

Kaufman Homestead – with 1766 House and Two Main Barns

The Kaufman homestead is replete with out-buildings of which the main attractions are two barns. Toward the rear of the farm yard is a massive sized circa 1840 stone Standard barn about 40 feet wide by about 90 feet long. There is an added on out-shed or rear granary at the far end of the barn. Its walls are plastered. The barn is of four-bay construction – two middle wagon bays and two end bays. At the one main wagon entry is another very rare example of original haar-hung wagon doors. Above the wagon doors is a not often seen overhead pentice or roof projection that protects the two wagon doors.

Hewn common rafters are seen and vertical queen posts help support the roof. Rarely seen are original hay-hole shoot frames like open sided boxes that appear – one at either side of each wagon bay. In the basement is a rare condition where an original feeding alley is flanked by original staked mangers at either side that span most of the width of the barn.

A much smaller two-level stone barn is seen at the front of the barn yard. It is about 42 feet long by about 35 feet wide. There is, very oddly, no banked or ramped condition at the rear of the barn. In fact at the rear wall of the barn are three wall openings with stone arched doors. A cantilevered wall or fore-bay appears at the front of the barn. At the end walls are louvered windows. At the house end of the barn is a large wood door opening toward the peak that allowed entry and exit of farm produce. A large impressive single length summer beam seen in the basement supports the upper floor. Two partly original transverse staked mangers survive. Very peculiarly horizontal spriggel bars appear at each animal door at each end of the stable wall. Usually the bars that help to contain stabled horses appear at or toward only one end of a stable wall. This barn may have been for the exclusive use of horses.

Stapleton – Ruth Variant Ground Barn

One of the finest barns of any type in all of Pennsylvania is the Stapleton stone barn in Oley Township. There is a quiet raging debate whether the barn is a variant ground barn – there is no floor level below the threshing bay – or a variant English Lake District barn – as some of these barns are apparently found in that region of northwest England. A date of 1782 is seen on an exterior wood piece and it may be the original date of construction. Only two others barns in southeast Pennsylvania only one of which still stands approximates the general design features of the Stapleton barn and may have experienced similar influences of building traditions.

The distinctive and almost medieval like roof slope of the Stapleton barn is one of the steepest of any barn in the greater Oley Valley. Kicks in the roof appear at each side of the barn. This of course indicates early German roof framing which the barn has. All exterior barn walls possess splayed loop holes. The barn measures 68 feet at each side wall and 33 feet at each end wall. No other ground barn of any type or any close relative built in the eighteenth century attains such a length.

Farm animals were stabled at the basement level at each end bay at very distinctly different floor levels. Above the stables were mow areas for crop storage.

Tuttle Classic Stone Switzer

The Tuttle classic stone Switzer dates from either the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. It is of five-bay construction with two wagon bays and three hay mows – two mows of which are back-to-back.

This barn boasts of an English style Principal Rafter System, the only barn on the tour with such a roof. In certain respects, this roof structure type is similar to the early German style roof in that there are principal rafters. However these rafters in the Tuttle barn extend the full length of each roof slope and are thickened in the middle or mid-span areas for the joining of barn length purlin plates. The Principals are supported by vertical queen posts. Between adjacent Principal Rafters are common rafters that are seen in early German roofs.

One remarkable feature seen in a few mow-stead wall boards are tally marks. Every fifth mark is considerably longer than the preceding marks. In addition, every twenty-fifth mark is considerably longer than the long “every fifth” marks. This tallying system may be unique.

Among other features seen in the barn is an original threshing floor with planks that are pegged. The granary room that is intact with its probable original door is very large in that it extends the widths of two bays. The threshing doors are of frame construction with mortise and tenon joinery that was likely common in barns of 150 to 200 years ago.

Fisher Homestead – Superb 1801 Georgian-Federal Stone House and Unique Stone Variant Two-Level Ground Barn and Massive 1862 Stone Standard Barn

The Fisher homestead in Oley Township is another superb example of a collection of historic buildings. The Fisher place is the home of the latest built house on the tour, constructed by Conrad Heinrich and Gottlieb Drexel in 1801. Two barns are seen at the rear of the house complex. The smaller one is unique in the German cultural landscape. Its type may be called a variant ground barn although it does have two levels. The barn measures about 50 feet long and about 28 feet wide.

An over one hundred foot long stone to the peak Standard bank barn appears a number feet south of the variant ground barn. It is dated 1862. It is of five-bay construction – three side by side wagon bays and two end bays.

“Thank you to everyone who participated in our first historic barn conference. From expert presenters to novice barn admirers to program sponsors, we valued your contribution to this successful event. I especially want to thank Greg Huber and Jeffrey Marshall for writing and organizing our conference barn tour booklet, portions of which are highlighted in this newsletter. We are fortunate to have a wealth of historic barns in Pennsylvania. Our hope is to highlight every region of our state at some point in the future. Be sure to join us in 2009 as we assemble in Gettysburg.”

—- Sheila Miller, president.

During the conference, keynote speaker Robert Ensminger presented a special reflection on his many years of research. The author of the book, The Pennsylvania Barn, was one of three individuals honored for their studies of historic barns during a tribute dinner.

John Heyl, a renowned architect who inspired many scholars after himself to document the histories of barns, stressed the importance of preserving old barns. Heyl, who has celebrated more than one hundred birthdays, traveled back to Pennsylvania from his adopted home in Maine to participate in this tribute dinner and share his stories. Also honored was retired Penn State professor Dr. Joseph Glass who followed Heyl in his research and academic work.

Other speakers from across the country shared their expertise on barn preservation, timber framing, foundation repairs, and renovation. Among them was Lancaster County’s John High, the “Barn Saver,” who was joined by Dr. Robert Barr, owner of the historic Star Barn located near Middletown, Pennsylvania. They discussed plans that are underway to take down and relocate the historic structure to a new home near Grantville, Dauphin County, in 2009.

Also providing their expertise on historic barns during the conference were: Brian Snyder, Doug Reed, Ken Sandri, Melissa Evans, Greg Huber, Rod Scott, Patrick Dunmoyer, Keith Cramer, Jeff Marshall, Phoebe Hopkins, April Franz, Moss Rudley, and Dr. Rob Reynolds.

A tour of historic barns in Berks County’s Oley Valley concluded the conference and shared a diverse treasure of unique architecture. According to HBFF of PA’s Greg Huber, the Oley Valley reigns supreme in all of Pennsylvania for sheer assortment of early barn types. “Although it covers only three townships almost all major barn styles are represented as barn builders were not lacking in their knowledge and experience of an extensive repertoire of construction types. In using all types of materials – they erected log Switzers, stone Switzers, stone ground barns, variant stone English Lake District barns and other stone and frame barns of types too diverse to discuss here,” he explained. “Builders and farmers alike did not include the word homogeneous in their working vocabularies. In doing so, they left a trail of construction types that makes for what amounts to a giant barn museum. Few areas in all of North America can compete with the Oley Valley for absolute multiplicity of expressions of barn styles.”