Historic Barns of Connecticut Trail Launched at Old Saybrook Gala

Celebration Continues with Conference, Hoedown, Bike and Bus Tours, June 8.

The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, located in Hamden, Conn., will launch a trail of historic barns in the state at its Celebration of Barns event on June 7 and 8, at the historic Bushnell Farm in Old Saybrook.

This evening at 7 p.m., there will be a glittering gala hosted by honorary chair and WTNH news anchor Ann Nyberg with contra dance caller Bill Fischer.  Tickets are $75 per person.

A conference will be held Saturday morning and early afternoon, followed by a Hoedown.  The conference will include demonstrations, food, seminars, tours, entertainment and more.

The Hoedown will be a  family event that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.  There are also bike and bus tour options on Friday afternoon.  A variety of ticket options, including multiple combinations of all the events, is available.

The Barns Trail will consist of seven drivable/bikable trails across the state.  Each trail will feature barns that are open to the public; routes from one of these barns to the next are designed to bring the traveler along scenic roads filled with privately owned barns, not open to the public but visible from the road.  Starting points can occur at any point on a tour.

Barns that are open to the public include those with local produce farm stands, cider mills, tree farms, wineries, and also blacksmith shops, tool collections and dairy farms.  The barns along the route from one agri-business or historic site to the next are private.  Some of these are active farms, others are examples of the iconic barns structure that defines the rural Connecticut landscape.

The seven trails are:

• The Northwest Hills
• Fairfield County
• New Haven and the Central Valley north and east of it
• the Connecticut River Valley South to Glastonbury
• the Connecticut River Valley North to Enfield
• Southeast Connecticut

The scenic drives will be available using a map from a print brochure or downloading a free iPhone app.  From each, one can learn not only that perhaps a particular site sells pumpkins, but that it has been a part of the community for 200 years.  Either through the use of the iPhone app or reading the colorful brochure, travelers learn that maybe the original farmer was once also the town sheriff and had his prisoners build the stone walls by which you are now driving.

On the Southeast trail is B.F. Clydes Cider Mill in North Stonington (www.bfclydescidermill.com).  This is reportedly the oldest steam-powered cider mill in the country, (1881).  It operates out of a decorative Victorian-era barn that features a shingled cupola and cross gables typical of its period.

Along the Connecticut River Valley South trail, one can visit the Deep River Historical Society’s Stone house and barn (www.deepriverhistoricalsociety.org).  The c. 1899 cross-gable carriage barn was erected by descendants of Ezra Southworth, builder of the elegant 1840 stone house on the same site.  Antique vehicles, including a mule-drawn school bus, are on display.  Another barn on the property was once used for bleaching ivory.

The Trust’s Historic Barns of Connecticut is a nationally respected project that puts recognition of endangered historic barns front and center.  It is a complete compilation of barns, providing a significant basis to make the case for protection for these historic resources.

The Connecticut Trust, along with the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, has identified more than 8,400 historic barns throughout the state.  These barns are available for viewing at www.connecticutbarns.org.

At least 2,000 of the barns in the database have detailed information on their type, building techniques, agricultural use and current use.  The Trust is currently nominating 200 of these historic barns to the State Register of Historic Places giving them an added layer of historic significance.

For information and tickets to the Celebration of Barns event, contact [email protected].

Funding for Historic Barns of Connecticut and the Barns Trail comes from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.