black mamba

At least it's not abandoned. I've seen it for years but have never known its purpose. There's some traditional barn buildings behind it so I kind of doubt it ever served those functions. Likewise, the inside is just a huge open space so I don't think living quarters were in the picture. There was some tobacco grown in that area...maybe a drying barn for that. I'll be back up there for the month of June and I'm not leaving until I can ferret out the facts behind it.

If ya'll don't hear from me after this June, there may be some substance to that Dracula theory.

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Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

With the open slat sides it looks like a tobacco barn to me. What ever its use it is magnificent old structure and you captured it well Tom

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Fine capture Tom. You may be correct that it is a tobacco barn due to those open sides.

Don

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Excellent shot, Tom! I vote for tobacco barn.

black mamba

I'm glad you stopped by. Thanks for the thumbs up.

black mamba

Thanks for the kind words, Jack. It means a lot to me.

black mamba

As always, Don, I sure appreciate you commenting.

black mamba

Thank you very much, Mike. I'm going with tobacco barn as well.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

If it is for drying tobacco, then it will have a network of rafters about 4-5 feet apart (a bit less than the length of a tobacco stick) spaced the length of a tobacco plant all the way to the top. The variety my Grandfather grew got 5-6 feet tall, so his rafters were in a network every 6 feet. There should also be some kind of burners to make heat and keep the inside of the barn dry if it rained while the tobacco was drying (mold and mildew can ruin the crop). My Grandfather made his from 55 gallon steel drums with a grate inside to hold a layer of "coke". (think charcoal, only made from coal instead of wood)

If I got caught in a rain fishing in the back pond, the barn was over 100 yards closer than the house. If it was fall and drying time I ran there and inside with the coke burners going it was toasty and dry to wait out the rain.

Picnic tables for eating. Could it be a meeting/dance hall for the families in the area back in the day? It could also be used for church services etc.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

I had thought that somebody erected it and then left it there to get old so we could take pictures of it

black mamba

Thanks for the very interesting info. The tables are a new addition....showed up last year. There are rafters visible but nothing like the structured layout you mention. The area on the end of the main structure, with its own small roof and wide spacing between the slats, may be misleading. That actually is a small area isolated from the main building. There's a solid barn wall serparating that area from the interior of the main structure.

NMGal Loc: NE NM

Whatever it was. It’s a nice looking old building.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

There appear to be windows, as if it has or had a second floor at one time.
Could have been living quarters (farm hands at harvest time?) or a hay loft - hay needs venting to keep it dry also.

Are there big doors that equipment can be driven through? My Grandfather's tobacco barn had the first layer of rafters about 10-12 feet up because the open floor below was where he parked the tractor etc. to keep them out of the weather.

The stock barn had big double doors at each end and stalls for milking, his mules etc. down each side. Open both sets of doors and drive the tractor with a trailer of feed down the middle so you could shovel the feed into the feed bens which were on the passage side. Attached to one side of the barn was a large lean to type shed 25'x the length of the barn with windows for light and doors on only one end. That was shelter for the beef cattle in bad weather.

And the second floor was a hay loft, doors with a beam for a hoist to lift hay up and down. It had massive beams to support the floor made of 2x12 planks. The hay loft also had air vents to help keep the hay dry. In winter it made a great place to take a book(or homework), build a nest from some loose hay, open one of the doors for light and read or do homework while pestered by farm cats or chickens, which can flutter enough to get up to the loft.

And separate but very close to the barn was a log walled(with gaps)corn crib on a lifted foundation so it had air circulation on all sides, top and bottom to dry the feed corn for the stock, plus a roof that overhung 2–3 feet to keep rain out.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis