LANCASTER, N.Y. — They are reconstructing history in Lancaster in the form of a "brand new" 200-year-old barn being assembled at the Historic Hull Family Home and Farmstead.
Hull House Foundation President Gary Costello has been working toward this for years, and finally, "We've got a beautiful 200-year-old threshing barn being erected right before our eyes."
They purchased the barn two years ago from a farmer in King Ferry, NY on the shores of Cayuga Lake. "It's been sitting idle for a number of years. The farmer no longer wanted it or needed it. We purchased it from them and disassembled right over here and I've been sitting there waiting for the funds to do this part." That came in the form of $106,000 from the Erie County Cultural Capital Grant Program.
To carry the project out, they have brought in one of the foremost historic barn experts in the state. Randy Nash owns New York Barns, LLC and has been studying and restoring barns for most of his life. "The fact that we're dealing with a building that was built 200 years ago and we brought all the materials over here, (the key is) keeping track of all those materials so they're handy when we need them and we go to raise it. That's the biggest challenge with it. Then the repair work on an old building, trying to maintain some of the aesthetics of the old building, that's a big challenge." Nash says that the key to reassembling it is how you disassembled it. "One of the things that all building is it's pre-cut, it's pre done and it goes together just like some tinker toys if you've got it labeled properly." Randy carves Roman numerals into each piece and has it all drawn out in his plans.
Costello tells us that they could have just gone out and bought a new barn to replace the one that is collapsing on the property right now, but bringing in a barn from the Finger Lakes that is the same vintage as the house is right in line with the Hull Home's mission. Once complete, the thrushing barn, which is used to process and store grain, will add to the living history environment of the Hull House complex. "It adds significantly to our opportunities for educational presentations to let folks understand what it was like back then, to create your crops and get them to market. It adds an a major component to our storytelling here."
They are hoping to have it open to visitors sometime this summer.
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