NEW WORLD DUTCH BARN SURVEY 2000

306 Folts Street, Herkimer, NY 13350                               (315) 866-8858

 

 

For Immediate Release:                                         Contact: Rolland Miner

                                                                                                866-8858

 

Monuments of Wood

 

This year is the 225th Anniversary of the Battle of Oriskany and everyone is gearing up for the celebration.  People and organizations are preparing to hold all kinds of events to honor General Nicolas Herkimer and the Tryon County Militia for their now legendary fight at Oriska Fields. It was a very bright time for the people in the Valley as the so-called "British Invasion" had been stopped; the Loyalists and their Native American allies had been turned back. We wonder how many of them were looking ahead to the next year 1778 and what it would bring. This coming year, 2003, marks the 225th Anniversary of "The Destructives" campaign. This campaign was to last for three years from 1778 to 1781 and result in the devastation of the Mohawk-Schoharie Valleys from German Flatts to Fort Hunter on both sides of the river and south to the upper Schoharie Valley. 

 

We wonder how many people today are aware that this was an organized campaign, not just a series of sporadic raids. We also wonder how many people today are aware that one of the specific targets of this campaign was the destruction of the barns. We all learned in school that the Valley was one of the leading wheat producing areas of the colonies, but are we all aware of the importance of barns to this industry?

 

Both types of barns found in this end of the Valley were "threshing barns", that is the center of the main floor was the area where the wheat was threshed or separated from the stalks. The un-threshed grain was stored in the loft area and after threshing was stored in  a granary room or in the back of the barn until it could be transported to a mill. The barn played a most important part in this process and to destroy barns full of grain in any form was to destroy a large portion of the crop thus putting pressure on the Congressional Army.

 

We wonder how many people are aware of the fact that there are very few pre-Revolutionary houses around in this area. How many people know that some of the oldest buildings in the area are barns? Here in Herkimer County we have four documented Dutch barns that were all built immediately after the Revolution, perhaps to replace destroyed barns, all older than the houses they stand next to.  We know of a few others that were standing at the beginning of the 20th century but are now gone. Perhaps there are even more standing that we do not know about.

 

It is time that we started to look at these buildings in a different light than we have in the past. They are monuments to the history of the people of this Valley. They are monuments to the craftsmanship of their builders. They are all wood and built over 200 years ago. The next time you drive by an old barn stop and think to yourself that maybe this is a monument to my country's past just as much as the stone and bronze ones we erect and take such care of and most likely older. Will it still be there when our grandchildren and their children's children are old enough to drive past them?

 

 

 

 

If you are interested in preserving Dutch barns and their history or you have information regarding a Dutch barn you should consider contacting the New World Dutch Barn Survey 2000 through their website http://nwdb2000.homestead.com/home.html . Persons interested in barns in general may also contact the NY State Barn Coalition through the above website.  The New World Dutch Barn Survey 2000 is a NYSED incorporated non-profit educational organization located in Herkimer, NY.