Sat. Sept. 28: First Ever Waterford Barn Tour!

Waterford, Vermont, Self-Driving Barn Tour:

Vermont Archaeology Day, September 28, 2013 – 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Welcome to Waterford, Vermont! You are in the village of Lower Waterford; Upper Waterford is under the waters behind the Moore Dam (1954). Other villages in town were West Waterford and Waterford Hollow (both are now residential and farming – no stores or churches.)

We hope you will want to photograph some of what you see today. If you’d like to share your photos, please e-mail them to the Waterford History Group at BethPoet@gmail.com.

PLEASE NOTE: You are welcome to photograph all the barns, but please do not enter any barn unless it is marked with VISIT in this handout. While all the barns open for visitors are in reasonable condition for farm structures, they are not intended to be “handicap accessible” and your visit is at your own risk.

You are invited to visit three barns where owners will meet you (RED DOTS), described in Driving Directions (below).

After your three-barns drive, you can loop back to the library OR extend your tour in any of these ways:

(a)   See the Lee and Heath barns (BLUE DOTS) in the area that was Waterford Hollow (the Heath barn includes a display of tools). Continue from here to Route 2, and then visit Concord, Vermont, where there is an open house at the Historical Society. OR

(b)  See the Powers Mountain View barn (ORANGE SUN) and savor the view of two states. You can add the Bonus Barns to your drive (see final section) – or just return from here to the Library, OR

(c)   Continue from the Powers Mountain View barn by proceeding to Concord, Vermont, via either highway or scenic route, for the open house there.

MORE DETAILS ON THE BARNS are available in a handout you can purchase (thanks for supporting the library this way!). Mill-site visits are not possible this year, but will follow in 2014.

Driving directions:

From the LIBRARY, turn away from the Rabbit Hill Inn, heading west on Lower Waterford Road. Watch for street numbers (hint: 100 numbers = one-tenth of a mile). At 506 Lower Waterford Rd is Pleasant Valley Farm (parts of the barn date to the 1800s; more of it, 1950s). At 728 Lower Waterford Rd, VISIT the Wajda barn (late 1800s). At 976 Lower Waterford Rd is the Hale barn (late 1800s).

At 1298 Lower Waterford Rd pass the Frank Bullock barn (late 1800s; please do not stop here). At 1640 Lower Waterford Rd is the George Bullock barn (late 1800s).

In another half mile, TURN RIGHT onto Duck Pond Road. (You are entering West Waterford, which is not a “village” center today, just a district.) In about a mile, see Hale Rd on the left (a mill stood at this intersection in the early 1800s; come back in 2014 to see its “footprint”) – bear right with Duck Pond Rd.

At 4002 Duck Pond Rd VISIT Dream Catcher Farm (ca. 1903) with Sharron Caplan. At 3517 Duck Pond Rd is the Hovey Place (note “high drive”; barn date ca. 1890). Stay with Duck Pond Rd for about 2 miles and turn RIGHT onto Remick Road. At about three-fourths mile, pass Green Road on left, and arrive at 717 Remick Road to VISIT the Florio Barn. Backtrack to Green Road, which in half a mile ends at Route 18.

CHOICES for the rest of your drive are here:

(a)   Turn LEFT on Route 18 and go 3 miles, passing Stiles Pond. (This region once held the village known as Waterford Hollow.)  The Lee Farm is just past the pond (lake), on Lee Road on the left (a National Register of Historic Places site, barn ca. 1860). The Lee Farm included a mill site (more details in 2014).

From Lee Rd, return to Route 18 and turn RIGHT to find Stiles Cemetery on the left, and take the next LEFT turn onto Hudson Road. Pass under the interstate and turn LEFT onto Walsh Road. VISIT the Heath Barn at 271 Walsh Road and see display. Continue half a mile and turn LEFT on East Village Rd; the Adams-Babcock Cemetery (town’s earliest, steep but accessible path) is on the left.  Continue downhill on East Village Rd three-quarters of a mile to Route 2. Turn RIGHT (east) on Route 2 and drive 3.5 miles to Concord, Vermont, for open house at historical society.

(b)  Or, turn RIGHT on Route 18 and drive about 5 miles to Lower Waterford. Turn right at the triangle to return to Library (the Morrison mill was near this corner; come back for our 2014 tour), or continue STRAIGHT on Route 18 (passing Cushing Horse Barn at 7083 Route 18) for about half a mile to Shadow Lake Road and turn LEFT. At 762 Shadow Lake Rd see the Powers Mountain View farm and enjoy the view behind you! Return to Route 18 and turn right to return to Library.

(c)   SCENIC ROUTE TO CONCORD:  From Powers Mountain View farm (in part b): Continue up Shadow Lake Rd approx. 5 miles to the “four corners” (intersection with Long Hill Rd and Mitchell Rd), called Concord Corner; turn LEFT to stay on Shadow Lake Rd another 3 miles, arriving at Route 2 in Concord; turn RIGHT to find historical society open house.

BONUS BARNS (for intrepid explorers): from Route 18, take the LEFT onto Shadow Lake Rd (see option b) and go only three-fourths mile, then turn RIGHT on Old County Road (South). The Gillott goat barn at 4962 Old County Rd (S) dates to 1948.

TURN AROUND and backtrack to the RIGHT TURN onto High Ridge Road, where at 957 High Ridge Rd is the Kevin Powers barn (1962) and at 1011 High Ridge Rd is the Patricia Powers barn, moved in 1945 from Upper Waterford before the waters rose behind the Moore Dam.

Return to Old County Road South and turn RIGHT to find the Boisvert barn at 3200 Old County Rd (at corner of Mad Brook Road), which is from 1902 (barn-raising photos in supplemental booklet). Use Mad Brook Road to return to Route 18 (from here, go LEFT to return to Library, or RIGHT toward Route 2).