A Chester County Barn
by Michael Pilligalli
It is well known that William Penn divided his land in the New Colonies into regions and counties and his first division in the area known now as Pennsylvania was that of Chester County. The colony was known as Pennsylvania since that translated from Latin into Penn’s Woods. It is also said that Willam Penn named Chester County from the area Penn knew well and that was Cheshire County, England. These lands in Pennsylvania were as majestic to him as the fond remembrance of his youth there and since this started out as agricultural and wooded areas in the colonies, his naming our beloved area Penns Sylvania was appropriate.
On these open stretches of forests, areas were cleared of trees to create housing for the settlers and areas to start growing crops were set up. The felled trees were used to make houses and of course their barns. This was not an easy task in the days of axes and saws as it supposedly took a single man about a month to clear a three acre parcel of treed land and maybe up to a year to achieve a manageable fifteen or sixteen acre parcel of property. And, that did not include riddance of the stumps either, which was a massive undertaking. History tells us that a barn raising was usually held as soon as the main dwelling was finished or in some cases, if the dwellers had animals as a part of their homestead, then a place of housing for the animals was just as important to the settlers and sometimes established before a permanent home was erected. These early structures were comprised of either log, brick, stone, or sawn timbers. That was the extent of building materials for the New World and what was available in plentiful form. Many times the bricks were made right on the property from the clay rich soil that may have made up their cleared land, especially if it was near or by a water source.
The logs and lumber were readily available for construction and of course on top of and under that rich Chester County soil were many different types of rock to include granite, limestone, sandstone and the combinations from what we call “plum pudding” stonework comprised of ironstone, black volcanic rock or hornblende, mica and of course our indigenous serpentine. The largest of the unearthed stones were kept for the outside corners of the structure, whether it be the home or the barn, and this placement of large stone corners with smaller stones as filler was of important building structure. These large stones were known as Quoins. Logs dominated the scene for homes and barns and as sawing materials became available the logs were transposed into building timbers. The early log barns saw many additions and alterations as time and money went by and thus were changed into more permanent structures of stone and or brick if the materials were available and affordable. Along with the barns and homes, tax parcels also indicate a plethora of other “out buildings” that rested on these cleared homesteads to include chicken houses, spring house, livery stables, blacksmith shops, distilleries, sawmills, grain mills and many other useful buildings. Trade shops and structures for production could have been included also with the homesteaders to include a cooperage (barrel maker), weavers and loom smiths, wheelwrights, carpentry and cabinet making shops, tailors, saddle makers, hatters and even malt houses. Remember there were no malls, shopping areas, or hardware stores in rural 18th Century Chester County to go pick up your needs.
Our early Chester County barns were made from New World natural products with old Country ideas and methods, with hard working hands from faraway places and planned to sit right on the ground. Those English, Scottish, and Irish immigrants to our area brought with them their home grown ideas and methods of building to include the cedar trees being used for shingles on these structures, and thatching from Great Britian’s architecture was popular, especially for insulating qualities, but was found to be a fire hazard at times. They started small and added on and built onto existing structures and as time passed, the builders had more experience with the new materials presented them and grew to incorporate new ideas of spatial usage for storage of farm products and animals through the year. Most of the early barns were one floor and basically used for grain and hay storage. As time traversed, the farmer realized that they needed animal protection and implement storage and thus larger and second story barns were started to be built
That brought homesteaders to where to place the barn on the newly cleared forested area. If the land they were on was hilly or steeply sloped, that provided them with a structure that could be built into the hillside and thus was created the Bank Barn. A Bank Barn was good for insulation of the earth against the thick stone walls in the buried areas to keep the animals contained in the first floor area warm in the winter and it also usually provided a second floor entry that would allow grains to be brought into second floor areas and dumped into the first floor through a lift away panel on the second floor or through a lofted area. The southern side of the bar was usually more open with windows to allow the southern sun to warm the barn and the animals and dry out excess moisture. But remember glass was taxed so it was sparingly used and imported early on. Also added sometimes were extensions over a first floor doorway to provide a dry area for entry and egress and this outward extension was usually held up by what are known as conical supports. Conical supports were copied from the English countryside barns and were round pillars of stone that tapered as they rose six, seven, or eight feet to be capped by a large beam spanning their top to hold up the overhang that provided a dry spot for entry, wagon parking, equipment drop off areas, and for many other uses. These conical supports are very indigenous to Chester County as they are rarely seen outside of our county area. These “overhang” barns were known in the area as Pennsylvania German or Dutch Barns, again a throwback to the immigrant’s homeland and their recollection of buildings in their homeland.
Being so firmly and strongly built, many of our early barns still are with us and in use today. In fact, with our historic area so well known, many of our early barns still see farm life today. Some of the early barns that have not seen real farm life for ages are being adapted for other uses. Today many barns have been turned into entertainment venues for weddings, reunions, parties, and gatherings. Some have even been adapted into use as a residence. We have witnessed many times in the past on Chester County Day an old stone or frame barn converted into a modern day living experience for a family with thick stone walls, patinated wood walls, lovely old floor boarding and sometimes soaring ceilings that may or may not incorporate a loft for usage by the family occupying it. The transformation of wide open soaring space is sometimes daunting to the dreamer of living there, but it serves a purpose to carry the barn into future years of standing tall and proud. The Chester County Barn was one of the earliest structures know in our area and today we can still see their glory and grandeur standing in use and proud to be a part of our heritage.