US: More Tobacco Barns Join Restoration Project

Source from:  GoDanRiver.com‎  06/11/2014

Five tobacco barns in Pittsylvania County and others in Halifax and Caswell (North Carolina) counties are getting restored this year, thanks to $100,000 in mini-grants from JTI Leaf Services in Danville.

Preservation Virginia Field Representative Sonja Ingram announced the grant recipients in a news release Tuesday.

The mini-grants project is part of the organization's Tobacco Barns Preservation Project started in 2012 by Preservation Virginia.

The Pittsylvania County barns receiving grants include:

 » William Pearson's curing barn in Climax. The structure is one of a cluster of barns on Toshes Road across from Watson Level Church. Pearson has been a tobacco farmer all his life and plans to pass down his land and barns to his son.

 » David and Deborah Hutcherson's curing barn on Izaak Walton Road in Hurt. The barn was once part of the East family farm in northern Pittsylvania County. It is still used to dry burley tobacco.

 » Katharine Blair's pack house on Moorefield Bridge Road in the Tunstall area was also selected for a grant. The pack house sits close to the road next to an old farmhouse and carriage house that her grandfather bought in 1939 form the Astin family. The pack house was most likely built before the Civil War and was used until the 1980s.

 » Another pack barn located off Kentuck Road and owned by James Gosney was chosen for a grant. Known as the "red barn," it was used to house tobacco by the Pillow, Adams and Williams families for years.

 » The fifth barn chosen belongs to A.J. Nuckols in Mount Airy. It is one of the oldest in Pittsylvania County and dates to the 1820s. It was built from frame construction using mortise and tenon joints and wooden pegs. It was originally a curing barn but was also used as a pack house in later years.

Two pack houses and three curing barns were chosen in Halifax County, while a pack house, three curing barns and a pack house/curing barn were picked in Caswell County, North Carolina.

Ingram said the granting process for 2014 were competitive, with more than 300 applications submitted. Eligible barns had to be located in one of the three counties and had to be used for tobacco farming.

The barns were evaluated for integrity, historic or architectural significance, public benefits, geographic distribution throughout the three-county area and the stewardship shown by the owners.

Preservation Virginia anticipates funding for more tobacco barn projects will be available for the next two years.

An updated application for the 2015 cycle will be available on Preservation Virginia's website by August. Applications will be due on Jan. 15. Those who applied in 2014 will have to resubmit an updated 2015 application. However, previously submitted images and/or historic information would not have to be resubmitted.

JTI Leaf Services in Danville was established in 2010 to procure and process leaf tobacco from the United States. JTI employs more than 50 full-time workers in Danville and hires more than 250 seasonal employees for tobacco processing each year.

Preservation Virginia was founded in 1889 and is a non-profit organization and statewide historic preservation dedicated to perpetuating and revitalizing Virginia's cultural, architectural and historic heritage. Enditem