What Kind of Barn Was This?

What Kind of Barn Was This? (HM2K84)

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N 38° 11.002', W 76° 25.782'

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Inscription
In the second half of the 18th century, grain prices rose and many farmers switched to growing wheat. William Hicks built a granary about 200 feet from here in 1758 to process and store wheat and other grains. An original door from that structure is displayed behind you. His was one of two granaries that stood in this area. Evidence shows that in 1785 John Mackall built a second granary in which you are standing.

Granaries need to be dry, stay cool, have solid floors and clean interiors, and be able to keep out rodents. Both the Hicks granary and the Mackall barn originally had wood floors as well as lofts for additional grain storage. The original shed on this side of Mackall's barn had a tight wood floor as well. We know this because of the empty notches for its floor joists that can still be seen in the sill of the barn wall behind you. These tight floors provided protection and areas for threshing grain.

Note the traces of whitewash on the ceiling joists in the barn. Whitewashing helped keep the granary clean and deterred insects. Due to market changes, farmers converted this structure into a tobacco barn in the early 1800s.

[Aside:]
John Mackall's probate inventory lists scythes used in harvesting grain and a "wheat fan" that helped in separating the wheat from the chaff. George Washington had five such fans at Mount Vernon, which were called "Dutch" fans in an inventory taken in 1810. Thomas Jefferson also used similar technology at Monticello.
Details
HM NumberHM2K84
Tags
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Placed ByHistoric St. Mary's City
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, September 2nd, 2019 at 11:03am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 374786 N 4227126
Decimal Degrees38.18336667, -76.42970000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 11.002', W 76° 25.782'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 11' 0.12000000000004" N, 76° 25' 46.92" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling East
Closest Postal AddressAt or near , ,
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