PRESERVATION VA'S TOBACCO BARNS PROJECT SUPPORTS TEN JOBS IN 2014

Historic preservation has many local economic benefits, such as the hiring of craftsmen and skilled workers.  Since Preservation Virginia’s Tobacco Barns Project’s inception in 2012, over ten local jobs have been supported in the Pittsylvania, Halifax and Caswell County region.

These ten jobs represent five local building companies from Pittsylvania, Halifax and Caswell Counties who were hired in 2014 to repair barns as well as a local photographer; moreover, these companies will continue working with the barns project in 2015 and beyond.

William and Miles McNichols repairing a tobacco barn in Pittsylvania County

Not only are jobs being created, but these jobs go beyond the benefits of typical job creation by giving back to the entire community. For example, the barns that were repaired are all visible from the public right-of-way and could easily be incorporated into a regional tobacco heritage tourism initiative, such as a smartphone application-led driving trail.

By celebrating and supporting the deeply-ingrained agricultural history of the region, the barns project has had other positive outcomes such as strengthening local identity and reinforcing what people already know — that promoting local heritage is vital to the current and future well-being of their communities. These benefits are something that local jurisdictions and economic development departments should recognize.

Job creation aside, there are yet more examples of how historic preservation helps improve local economies:

• Investing in a historic house is a sound investment. The lifespan of new buildings is between 40-50 years but most historic structures were built to last over 100 years. Houses in historic districts have proven to have higher property values than houses not in historic districts. Historic home owners are also eligible for historic rehabilitation tax credits.
• Historic buildings attract people who want to improve and be active participants in their communities. For example, many people have moved to Danville in recent years for one reason — affordable historic houses. When these tax-paying citizens add so much to the local economy, Danville’s historic districts should be considered prime economic assets. 
• Historic buildings, sites and main streets attract visitors. Tourism is Virginia’s second largest industry. The city, town, or county that does not take advantage of its tourism potential is making a huge economic blunder.

Von Wellington of Wellington Film Group recording the repair of a tobacco barn

The reach of the Tobacco Barns Project serves as an example of the kind of inclusive program that localities should take to heart and it helps demonstrate that historic preservation in the 21st century is not just about saving elaborate houses owned by a town’s former leaders, but rather the recognition of a wider, more inclusive and shared history that also comes with many economic benefits.

Old Barns Get Face-Lifts!

Preservation Virginia/JTI Tobacco Barns Mini-Grants Project Update

Two barns have been repaired and at least thirteen others are on the way to being repaired under Preservation Virginia/JTI’s Tobacco Barns Mini-Grants Project.  Funded by a grant from JTI Leaf Services, the Mini-Grants Project was formed to provide small grants to help stabilize and repair tobacco barns in a three-county area:  Pittsylvania and Halifax Counties in Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. 

Over 300 applications to repair tobacco barns were submitted for the 2014 grant cycle. The project is expected to continue for two more years.  

One of the barns recently repaired was William (W.K.) Pearson’s curing barn in the Climax community of Pittsylvania County. This barn has an unusual overhang that is not supported by posts.   Mr. Pearson has been a tobacco farmer all of his life and plans to pass down his land and barns to his son.  M and M Construction from Blairs did the work.  See link for more information.

Barn owner, W.K. Pearson, and William McNichols of M and M Construction at the barn to be repaired

Miles McNichols of M and M Construction preparing to re-daub and chink the logs 

Digging for the correct type of soil to use for the daubing

Daubing and chinking repairs completed

Painting the roof

The first barn to receive repairs in Caswell County is Doris and Richard White’s curing barn in Yanceyville. The White’s barn was stuccoed sometime in the 20^th century to help preserve the logs.  This addition of stucco over logs exists in North Carolina but is relatively unusual in Virginia.  Broadleaf Timber and Masonry Reclaiming LLC completed the repairs to the White’s barn.

Doris White, barn owner and Sallie Smith, Caswell County Historical Association at the White's barn

Roof work

Broadleaf Timber and Masonry Reclaiming, LLC

For more information on the tobacco barns project, please see link or contact Sonja Ingram at singram@preservationvirginia.org. 

Some Very Old Tobacco Barns

As the tobacco barns survey winds down we were able to survey what we believe are two of the oldest tobacco barns in Pittsylvania County.  Both barns are owned by Jay Nuckols, who lives in a nearby house built in 1828.

Most of the approximately 260  tobacco barns surveyed have been of log construction, but one of Mr. Nuckols’ barns is a timber-framed barn joined together with mortise and tenon joints − the only tobacco barn we have seen during the survey of this type of construction.



Mr. Nuckols's timber-framed tobacco barn with mortise and tenon joints

This timber-framed barn is also much larger than typical tobacco barns and has six “rooms” while most tobacco barns have either 4 or 5 rooms. “Rooms” are the spaces between the tier poles where tobacco was hung on sticks to be cured.

This barn was originally a curing barn but was later converted into a pack house.  A pack house is a barn where tobacco is stored, stripped and graded after it is cured and  before it is sent to the market. 

Pack houses typically have a pit beneath them where tobacco could be transferred to make it more pliable before it was graded. A pit was at some point excavated under this barn for this purpose.



Interior of log tobacco barn showing rooms

Mr. Nuckols’ log barn was constructed of hand-hewn logs and appears to have been built slightly later than the timber-framed barn.  It is very large and also has six rooms.  The logs are massive with most measuring over a foot in width.



Interior of log barn showing the massive logs used to construct it

Mr. Nuckols recalled that his Grandfather referred to this barn as the “prize barn.” Prizing is a term used to describe packing cured tobacco into hogsheads or other containers for transport.  A prize was a huge wooden screw used to tightly compress the tobacco. Mr. Nuckols is uncertain if the barn served as a curing barn first and later as a prizery; or if another, now gone, adjacent structure existed where the prizing took place.

Nuckols’ and his family’s residence, known as Whitefalls or Stonewold, was built by Edmund Fitzgerald, Jr. in 1828. The house is a one and a half story frame house sitting on a full English basement. Much of the interior woodwork is marbleized.



Stonewold, the Nuckols' residence

While the exact dates of construction of the tobacco barns are unknown; given their unusual characteristics and the nearby 1830s house, they most likely date to the early 19^th century.

Two of the family pets playing near an antique kettle