Historic Structures Report, Part II, Architectural Data Section: The Wayside Barn

Carroll, Orville

Minute Man National Historical Park protects 970 acres in and around the Massachusetts towns of Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord, commemorating the opening battle in the American Revolutionary War. This Historic Structures Report concerns the Wayside Barn at Minute Man National Historical Park. Deeds recorded as early as 1716 place a Barn and house on the original eight acre Ball property that spanned both sides of the present day Lexington Road. The Barn is dropped from the deed descriptions between 1778 and 1784 but picked up again in an inventory of 1823 and a mortgage of 1835. From 1845 on there is a good account of the structure found in various sketches, writings, surveys, and photographs. While the documentation is not conclusive, the writer feels pertain that the existing barn is the 1716 structure, although not in its original condition. Existing architectural evidence strongly suggests that the Barn was shortened in length, perhaps when it was moved in 1845. Between 1883 and 1932, the exterior and interior fabric underwent a series of alterations that resulted in its appearance of today. Very little changes have been made to the Barn since 1932. The report is intended to accompany the Historic Structures Reports, archeological investigation report, and Historic Grounds Report on the Wayside, the parent structure of the barn. As proposed in the Master Plan, the exterior of the barn would be rehabilitated to its appearance of 1924, while the interior space would be utilized as a Visitor Contact Station.

Historic Structures Report, Part II, Architectural Data Section: The Wayside Barn

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