The Barn That Moved from Upper Waterford: Barn Census

One of the challenges of the Waterford Barn Census has been assigning a "common name" for each property we learn about. Some have been simpler -- the Lee Farm is still known by that name and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places under the same name. There there's West View Farm, also on the Register under that name -- but better known to older residents as the Hastings place.

As I've been typing each record into the state Barn Census website (sharing information is part of the Census goal), I've named some barns with multiple family names, like the Florio-Remick-Green barn (there were two other families who owned it in the past but they are not often spoken of in terms of the property).

An especially interesting case is the Patricia Powers Barn: that's what it's mostly called now and that's how we've labeled it in the Barn Census. But it was moved from Upper Waterford, and the information about that move -- purchase of the original property from the George and Flora Wallace family, by New England Power; purchase of the barn itself by Gilbert Wright in the 1940s from the power company (which was about to flood the village in the creation of Moore Dam Reservoir); and movement of the barn to its present location beside the home of Patricia Powers -- also goes into the Census.

Here is a handwritten note from the Patricia Powers family, along with a photo of the barn. On the back of the photo is yet one more piece of information that ties the names together: Mr. Wright sold the house to the Powers family, and rebuilt the barn on their houselot while he was rebuilding the house as well, in 1949 or 1950. Many thanks to Andrew and Tanya Powers for gathering this information.

Info for those who live outside Waterford: The Moore Dam was completed in 1954.

We now have 14 barns listed for Waterford on the state website; we'll let you know when the listings become accessible to you (we hope, very soon!).

And this evening's Waterford History Group meeting (6 pm, Wed 4/24, Davies Mem. Library) will review what we've accomplished, which barns are next, and what else (!!) we're planning for this year.