Connecticut
Fall in love with Connecticut’s barns: History, agriculture, workmanship
Venturing out in the rural Connecticut landscape, there are reminders of the agricultural age that dominated the landscape. Farms that once used their land for raising livestock and growing crops have either been abandoned or slashed in size to accommodate new homes. Sometimes all that remains of the original farm property is the farmhouse and a barn or two.
Those barns remain interesting to me architecturally, because of the quality of materials and workmanship that went into building them, and in a nostalgic way, because I grew up in dairy country in New York state. I used to play in barns, and I wish I had had more of an interest in the structure of the barns when I was so close to them, inside and out.
One of the more familiar barns in Connecticut are the post and beam structures. Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry features one built in the 1760’s. This barn is on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut, and it is built in the English/ New England hybrid style that normally had a gable roof and vertical sheathing. The historic Jacobson barn on the UConn campus also has a post and beam structure.
The English barn is a simple building with a rectangular plan, a pitched roof, and a door or doors located on one or both, of the long sides of the building. English barns featured three distinct bays, the center one being for the threshing of grain, and the side bays used for livestock and hay storage. Footings and foundations were typically made of stone, an abundant resource in Connecticut landscapes, and the stones normally had no mortar. Doors on English barns were hinged and swung open.
New England barns are usually a type of bank barn, built into the side of a hill giving ground level access to one side, but a ramp or rarely a bridge were used to access the doors. Roof and eave overhangs were typically one foot to protect walls from rainwater. Ventilators and cupolas were added to some barns in the 19th century to reduce moisture build-up. Some barns had stairs, but most featured ladder access to the second floor. New England style barns normally had a gable roof and vertical sheathing.
A picturesque red barn with white trim and a cupola is located on Main Street, South Windsor, and it is an example of an English/ New England hybrid style barn. The New England style barn, built after 1830, could stand alone or be connected to other farm buildings and often had an off-centered end wall entrance for wagons.
The Morse Farm barn in Scotland is listed on the National Register, the State Historic Resource Inventory, and the State Register. This carriage house style barn has one and one half stories and features a gambrel roof design. A gambrel roof has two distinctive two slopes on each side, with the upper slope pitched at a shallow angle and the lower slope at a steeper angle. This allowed for more headroom when working on the upper floor. This barn had a combined use as a stable and carriage storage.
On Valley Falls Road in Vernon, the historic red barn, built between 1875 and 1920 features a gambrel bank style and with a cupola and a timber frame structure. A milking stable was in the basement, featuring the typical cement floor and manure gutters and whitewashed walls. It is listed in the Local Historic District and the State Register.
Gilbert Road in Stafford features an English Bank style of barn. Not too far away, on 425 Old Springfield Road in Stafford there is the Greystone Farm English style barn that features exterior siding of gray fieldstone, and flush board and vertical siding on other sections. The roof is a gable type.
The Sheridan Farmstead (c. 1760) on Hebron Road in Bolton is listed on the State Register of Historic Places and features a gentleman’s barn built in 1900. A gentleman’s barn had a dual purpose as a weekend retreat and a working farm. The white extended English bank barn features a stairway to the upper level, hay chutes, a brick chimney, rolling doors, an earthen ramp and horse stalls on the ground level.
There are many more barns, both old ones and newer ones, that are still interesting and useful. To those familiar with the past, barns offer a glimpse into the past, and maybe the present, as well. Tobacco barns, for example, although dwindling in number, are still very much a part of Connecticut’s past and present.
To locate barns on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places, visit the website on this link- https://connecticutbarns.org/state-register. For your gardening questions, feel free to contact, toll-free, at the UConn Home & Garden Education Center at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at www.homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu or contact your local Cooperative Extension center.
Pamm Cooper, UConn Home & Garden Education Center
Connecticut
Joe Deko Appointed to State Legislature’s Group Studying Prepaid Funeral Contracts to Protect Consumers
- Reviewing contract structures: Examining issues related to pre-need funeral contracts and cremation service agreements.
- Strengthening oversight: Recommending stronger consumer protections and improvements to state regulation of the funeral services industry.
- Developing compensation mechanisms: Creating rules for distributing funds to affected consumers and exploring the framework for a future industry-backed guarantee fund.
Deko took to Facebook to share the news.
“I am honored to announce my appointment to the Connecticut State working group focused on reviewing and strengthening Connecticut’s prepaid funeral laws.
This important effort brings together professionals and stakeholders committed to ensuring that prepaid funeral arrangements continue to serve and protect Connecticut families while maintaining the highest standards within our profession.
I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute my experience and perspective to this process and look forward to working collaboratively with fellow members of the group.
A special thank you to Senator Paul Cicarella for his confidence in me and for entrusting me with this appointment. Your support and leadership are greatly appreciated. I look forward to helping shape thoughtful policies that will benefit Connecticut families and the funeral profession for years to come.”
Connecticut
Sierra Club Connecticut, State Representatives Host Black Lungs Matter: Juneteenth Press Event – CleanTechnica
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Hartford Advocates and Community Members Gathered to Remember, Honor Path to Freedom
HARTFORD, Ct. — Today, Sierra Club Connecticut and State Representatives Minnie Gonzalez, Maryam Khan, and Jilian Gilchrist hosted Black Lungs Matter, a Juneteenth Press Conference, at the Connecticut Legislative Office Building.
The event highlighted the disproportionate impact of air pollution on Black residents in Connecticut and the broken promises that have contributed to this impact. Speakers included state representatives, public health and civil rights experts, plus local voices from Sierra Club Connecticut and the Connecticut Coalition for Economic and Environmental Justice.
The groups are concerned that Governor Lamont is no longer moving ahead with eliminating all carbon emissions from state building heating and cooling systems, as he pledged in Executive Order 21-3. The Trump Administration has also cancelled at least $50 million in federal grants for environmental justice projects across New England, a substantial portion of which was slated to come to Connecticut environmental justice organizations.
Environmental injustice refers to the fact that environmental hazards, such as air and water pollution, and the health harms that they cause, are disproportionately experienced by people of color and low income people. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, income, ethnicity, tribal affiliation or disability, in the environmental decision making which affects them.
“Just like the enslaved people in Texas were some of the last to gain their freedom, the asthmatic children of Hartford are likely to be the last to breathe clean air,” said Dr. Mark Mitchell, founder of the Connecticut Environmental Justice Leadership Collaborative. “The Governor should keep his clean air promise to Hartford, and help fight back against the environmental injustice of the Trump Administration.”
“As a Puerto Rican woman, I stand in solidarity with Black communities fighting for the right to breathe clean air and live healthy lives,” said Rep. Minnie Gonzalez, who represents the residents that are most exposed to the pollution from Capitol Area Systems.
“As a representative of Hartford, I am deeply committed to ensuring that every child in our city breathes clean air,” said Rep. Maryam Khan. “On this Juneteenth, we recognize the painful legacy of environmental injustice that has disproportionately harmed Black communities. Today, I stand with the Sierra Club in demanding action to tackle air pollution in Hartford. No child’s future should be stolen by the air they breathe.”
“Connecticut has made commitments to Environmental Justice,” said Sharon Lewis, an Environmental Justice Advocate. “Juneteenth reminds us that commitments matter only when they reach the people they were intended to serve.”
“We cannot allow the environmental justice goals and objectives in this city to be ignored,” said Attorney Cynthia Jennings. “Any investment of our tax dollars must be used to improve the health and safety of residents in every Hartford community.”
“Let’s remind the Governor that Black Americans deserve to breathe clean air in Hartford,” said Sierra Club Connecticut Organizer Alycia Jenkins. “Once justice is won for Black Americans, justice will be won for all.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
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NEW CANAAN, Conn. — An elderly driver was rescued from his vehicle after he accidentally crashed into a swimming pool in on Tuesday.
It happened just after 10:30 a.m. at the Steve Benko Pool at Waveny Park in New Canaan, Connecticut.
The Tesla plowed through a fence and set of trees before plunging into the water. Police say he was trying to park at the time.
The community pool was closed when it happened, so no one was swimming or in the path of the vehicle.
Lifeguards and first responders entered the pool to help the driver out of the vehicle.
Lifeguard Mike D’Urso, 18, described what happened.
“Me and my coworker were setting up the umbrellas when we heard a loud crash and we turned around and there was a car right in the middle of the pool,” D’Urso said.
D’Urso said the man was conscious and alert, but the vehicle began to take on water.
“The car began to sink a couple minutes in, and my concern was that the water would rise above his head and wouldn’t be able to breathe,” D’Urso said.
D’Urso and EMS workers pulled the victim out through the passenger side window. The driver said he wasn’t injured, but he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
The pool will have to be drained, cleaned and refilled. Officials hope to have it reopened by the weekend.
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