By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@Salisburypost
BARBER JUNCTION ó Each day, thousands of motorists whiz by on U.S. 70, caught up in the rush to get to work, to shop or get from one interstate to the other.
A few hundred yards off one of the county’s busiest roads, the Richard Wainwright Barber Farm has all the trappings of a trip back in time.
Its structures of heart pine and logs were built in the time of horse and mule power, a time when hand tools and muscles ruled.
The farm and its rich black soil sloping off the gentle hill are hemmed in by four-lane U.S. 70, Redmon Road and U.S. 801. A railroad track to Mount Ulla cuts through the 241-acre farm.
On the National Register of Historic Places, and designated a Century Farm by the N.C. Department of Agriculture, earlier this year the Rowan County Board of Commissioners designated it the first Rowan County Historic Landmark farm.
During discussions in July, commissioners admitted they were skeptical of designating an entire farm as a historic landmark, but they were won over by the evidence of the farm’s agricultural significance.
And commissioners also hailed the family’s do-it-yourself effort to preserve the land and the structures through permanent conservation and preservation easements.
The family waived a provision that would have given them a 50 percent reduction in taxes.
An official with the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources wrote a letter supporting the farm’s designation as a landmark.
The coordinator noted the designation as a landmark means the community recognizes the property as an important historic resource worthy of preservation.
“The Richard Wainwright Barber farm is a remarkable surviving agricultural complex in Rowan County. In the ownership of the same family since the 18th century, it includes 17 identified resources including dwellings, farm buildings, and landscape features. The Barber Farm property is significant both historically and architecturally from the mid-19th century through the 1950s,” wrote the coordinator.
The farm is also called Luke Land after the family’s ancestral home in St. Mary’s County Maryland.
Elias Barber (1754-1842) acquired the land after arriving in Rowan County from Maryland in 1794 with his brother. Barber Junction is named for the family.
The farm passed from Elias to his son, William (1783-1854). It then passed to William’s son, Jacob Franklin (1826-1876) and then to Jacob’s son, William A. (1856-1934).
William A. Barber’s son Richard Wainright Barber bought the interests of other family members in 1939 and moved from Mount Ulla to the Barber farm.
The earliest buildings on the farm date to circa 1854 and were built by William’s son Jacob Franklin Barber (1826 – 1876).
Here’s a summary of the structures and other key information provided by the county’s Landmark Commission:
– The Richard Wainwright Barber Farm has been in the continuous ownership of the Barber family since 1794.
– The farm is one of the most intact 19th and 20th century agricultural complexes in Rowan County.
– Jacob Franklin Barber house (1854) built by James Graham, who also built the main dwelling on the Knox Farm and the Hall Farm dwelling, both also on the National Register. All of the walls, except in the kitchen area, are hand-planed heart pine. All of the ceilings, the upstairs floors and downstairs bedrooms are also heart pine.
All of the windows except in the kitchen are the original 1854 windows.
The house contains five fireplaces. The chimneys which had deteriorated were totally rebuilt in 2002. They are faced with hand-made brick.
– Wheat house/granary (1855) ó Two story granary covered by lapped pine weatherboard. First floor is divided into wooden bins for grain.
– Double crib long barn (1855) ó Log portion of the barn was originally used for farm animals. A hay loft is over the stalls. The barn is currently under going restoration and rehab.Charles Barber, a relative, who operates a restoration business is doing the work. He’s restored and rehabilitated several of the buildings.
– Log crib/barn (1855) ó A half-dovetail log crib and barn with a gable roof and attached shed. Vertical pine siding sheaths the walls.
– Edward W. Barber house (1870s) ó Stands on a knoll several hundred feet east of the Jacob Barber House, now serves as Charles Floyd’s office. The modest two story house was built for Jacob Barber’s son. For most of the 20th century it housed farm tenants.
Unoccupied for 30 years, it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Hugo.
During restoration, workers found siding on the interior kitchen wall that indicates the one-story kitchen may have been a free-standing kitchen that originally served the Richard W. Barber house and was later moved and attached to the son’s house.
The massive restoration of the Edward Barber House included using freshly sawed heart pine, which as at least 100 years old. New windows were made from heart pine.
The house did get an update with electricity, plumbing, heating and air conditioning. The kitchen area serves as Charles Floyd’s office.
The Edward W. Barber house is also on the National Register.
– Edward Barber well house (1870s) ó A wooden well house featuring vertical oak board and batten. The rock-line well remains functional. ( The well house is one of three on the property. Two other are stone.)
– Carriage house (1890) ó Frame carriage house was heavily damaged by Hurricane Hugo but has been restored.
– Railroad (1898) ó The N.C. Midland Railroad built a railroad through the Barber Farm. Two trains pass through daily.
– School ( 1900) ó One-story, board and batten school with a gable roof stands a short distance from the Richard Barber house. William Barber built the structure to home school his children.
Farming practices
– Terraces (late 1930s) óRichard W. Barber had contour terraces constructed to prevent erosion, restore and improve the farm. The terraces remain and are protected by a conservation easement. Much of the terraced ares is in grass while the other is planted in crops.
– Check dam and gully system (late 1930s) ó The Civilian Conservation Corps put in grassed greenways to carry water from the terraces to a large branch that flows into Withrow Creek. The CCC built concrete spillways at the ends of some of the terraces.