Good Stand of Buildings, A

Viewing NotesVHS reference tape. Slide tape to video of traveling exhibit, organized by the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk and funded by the Maine Humanities Council in Portland on the subject of farm development. Used to be many prosperous well kept farmsteads. In the past 100 years agriculture has declined but in the 19th century it flourished. Lots of remodeling of original farm buildings. Example of the farm of Charles and Charlotte Bennett in Sweden, Maine. Showed four periods of change via photographs and architectural models: 1820-1830 barn, house, store separate. 1830-1880 added ell to house, vehicle shed and stable. 1880-1890 replaced English barn with New England barn, stable in line with barn, clapboards and white paint. 1890 to present stable expanded, porches added. Remodeling often included reconstruction of an existing building and saved labor. Oxen and horse teams hauled lumber and moved building. Barn raisings were common. Kitchen ells were the hub of activity. The Emerson farmstead in West Bridgton also shown. (Notes Feb 1993 by Prudy Heilner.)