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Date: 1/24/2023
NORTHAMPTON – A project to restore the 1805 Shepherd Barn and transform it into a thriving community space is almost a reality for Historic Northampton and the entire city.
“Fundamentally, this is about the restoration of the barn,” said Laurie Sanders, the co-executive director of Historic Northampton. “But inside, it’s going to really add so much to, not only what Historic Northampton can bring to the community, but what benefits [the barn] can bring to the community, too.”
According to Sanders, the inside of this historic landmark will function as a seasonal exhibit space displaying the barn’s legendary collection of artifacts from over the years. The artifacts – which include weathervanes, shop signs, toolboxes, a flax break, a scythe, a logging sled, sleighs and bathtubs – were cleaned, inventoried, photographed and rehoused by furniture maker Sharon Mehrman and a bunch of volunteers. Sanders said 600 artifacts were found, but only some of them will be displayed.
In addition to this activated exhibit space, Sanders said the barn will also function as a classroom and workshop space, as well as a small performance venue that holds about 50 people.
“As we were planning what’s next for the barn, we had a whole wide range of artists, from visual and performance artists to writers, to poetry and storytelling, to dancers…and they walked in the space, and they got it, because it’s this beautiful timber frame structure,” said Sanders. “There’s something that comes of performing, drama or music in a space that has this history.”
In 2016, Historic Northampton hired Bill Flynt, Historic Deerfield’s architectural conservator, to use a technique called dendrochronology to date the timbers and uncover the origin of the barn. Back in the lab, Flynn found that the oldest timber dated back to 1801, while the actual raising of the barn occurred sometime between 1804 and 1805.
According to Sanders, Historic Northampton believes that the structure was built by the Shepherd family somewhere in downtown Northampton, and then in 1850, through a method that is unclear, the barn was brought to its site behind 46 Bridge St.
“Based on its structure, it looks like it was used for a different purpose initially before it was converted into a barn,” said Sanders.
While there have been repairs to the barn’s structure over time, Sanders said the stone underneath and wooden fills were rotted, which meant Historic Northampton had to install a concrete foundation.
With the help of timber framer Alicia Spence and 180 volunteers, the barn was pulled off its foundation back in November so the concrete foundation could be installed and then pulled back on its foundation on Jan. 21 with help from more volunteers during a second public event.
“There was a recognition back in at least 2015 that the barn had some structural issues,” said Sanders. “Thanks to some grant funds from private funders, from the Northampton Community Preservation Act and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, we’ve been able to assemble most of the money to do the project.”
Historic Northampton officially began this restoration in 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization spent the shutdown time researching the origins of the barn and how the design could look. Some of its origins are still unclear.
According to Sanders, Spence and other community volunteers will spend late January and early February adding two timber frame additions like the “barn-raisings of yesteryear,” and the hope is to have the community space opened to the public this summer.
“This project has so many wonderful components,” said Sanders. “We just have this incredible team of contractors, architects and engineers with whom we’re working with.”
People can visit the Historic Northampton website to learn more about this project at https://www.historicnorthampton.org/shepherd-barn-2020.