Lost and Found

Lost

Although many farms were established in Lancaster County in the eighteenth century, most of the surviving barns and outbuildings were erected in the nineteenth century. Early log barns were replaced by wooden, stone, and brick barns. Of brick barns, the most impressive are those whose gable ends were laid in elaborate patterns of pierced or reticulated brickwork. These openings, commonly in the forms of initials, sheaves of wheat, or dates, provide ventilation and light, in addition to decoration. One of the most unusual examples was located in East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County. Its opening depicted arrows, lozenges, the letter X, and a figure of a man wearing a tricorn astride either a mule or horse. The barn was demolished ten years ago to make way for a large outlet mall; ironically, many stores in that complex are now vacant.

Found

Western Pennsylvania’s oldest barn was built in 1805 at Har­mony, Butler County, by members of the Harmony Society, a commu­nal religious group that settled the community the year before. (The Harmonists moved to Indiana in 1814 but returned to Pennsylvania ten years later and established their third and final home, Old Economy Village, in Ambridge, Beaver County.) The bank barn at Har­mony, long painted white, was originally painted red. It was signif­icantly altered in the 1850s by Mennonite farmer David Ziegler, who replaced the roof and added a forebay and gable to its southern elevation. Historic Harmony, which is restoring the barn, recently re­paired the roof and replaced seventeen thousand slates. Readers interested in contributing to the on­going preservation efforts should write: Historic Harmony, Box 524, Harmony, PA 16037; or telephone (724) 452-7341.