BUCKLAND — Nine volunteers hoisted a 16-foot-long maple syrup evaporator onto a truck last week, marking one of the final artifacts still housed in a barn on the Wilder Homestead on Route 112.
Removal of everything from maple sugaring equipment to pieces of carriages, all property of the Buckland Historical Society, was another step in the process to completely restore the circa 1798 barn. The project will entail taking the barn apart piece by piece, and reassembling it while replacing rotting wood. Meanwhile, the artifacts will be temporarily stored in residents’ barns in Buckland.
“People don’t take care of roofs and they start to leak. Things rot and the whole thing comes down. There are not many of these barns left,” said Buckland Historical Society President Michael McCusker.
A fundraiser for the barn restoration has nearly reached its $500,000 goal, and the Historical Society is starting the project while continuing to raise money. Former state Sen. Adam Hinds allocated $75,000 from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding toward the restoration, with an anonymous donor contributing another $75,000.
“We are around the fourth turn and the final straight away,” McCusker said, using a track metaphor to explain how close the society is to meeting its capital campaign goal. The society plans to host additional fundraisers to be announced this summer.
McCusker previously explained the entire restoration project will help address issues with the barn’s roof, foundation, siding and interior timber frame, as well as improve the overall weatherization to allow for year-round use.
There are plans to replace the barn’s threshing bay — where wheat berries are removed from the stalk and chaff — as well as the hayloft. A garage attached to the barn, constructed much later, will also be transformed, with the installation of fully accessible bathrooms planned.
Jack Sobon, a timber frame specialist based out of Windsor, was hired as project manager and architect. The Historical Society has also selected a contractor.
As part of the project, contractors will go to the woods behind the barn and cut down trees to use for timber. They will have an on-site sawmill to transform the trees into boards and beams, replacing the rotten wood.
In a video the Historical Society produced, Sobon explained many of the barn’s rare features. The barn was constructed with tying joints, a practice invented in the 1200s that stopped being used in the 1820s. There are original carpenters’ numbering marks done with a race knife on some of the barn’s beams. All beams were hand-cut with an ax, as opposed to using a sawmill.
A timeline for the restoration has not been finalized yet, but passersby on Route 112 can expect to see action in the coming weeks.
McCusker, along with many other Buckland residents, is excited for the restoration.
“I can’t wait for the day when we have a barn dance,” McCusker said, dreaming of the project’s completion.
McCusker noted this restoration is only Phase 1, with construction of a meeting room and a catering kitchen among the larger plans for the Wilder Homestead.
The Historical Society runs many community programs from the Wilder Homestead barn. It hosts an annual field trip with Mohawk Trail Regional School students and a Colonial Day complete with demonstrations. In addition to the barn and attached garage, the Wilder Homestead sits on 43 acres that is rented to a local farmer. A shoemaker shop was transported to the property in 1991, and there is also a colonial home on the land.
Donations to the capital campaign can be sent to P.O. Box 88, Buckland, MA 01338. Inquiries and requests for presentations can be directed to Buckland Historical Society President Michael McCusker at 413-834-3477. A video detailing the restoration project can be found at bit.ly/3w27iIY.
Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.