Acadian Archives

One of the architectural styles that makes the Saint John River valley unique is the twin barn, also called the Madawaska twin barn. Howard Marshall described this barn in particular as “a very nice double barn (‘twin barn’) just about a mile south of the city limit sign of Fort Kent on Highway 1; shingled . . . it’s not painted or has not been painted recently.” He defines the twin barn as “a pair of three-bay ‘English’ or ‘Acadian’ type barns built one exactly behind the other and with a small connecting unit framed transversely between them.”

Though there is no exact date, the work of Victor Konrad and Michael Chaney would place the construction of this barn some time from the 1880s to the 1920s.

In the St. John River valley, the grand ménage, or the “big upkeep,” described as an intensive cultural spring cleaning, has historically been a “time to demolish and sweep away any old buildings that have fallen into disrepair and are no longer fit or being used. This tendency or custom has significant ramifications for historic preservation, of course,” according to Howard Marshall. This barn stood in Fort Kent until at least 2016, but is no longer there today. It may have been another victim of the grand ménage.

This barn can be found in the Acadian Village, an institution devoted to keeping and sharing Acadian cultural traditions. According to Howard Marshall’s field notes, "This is a very nice English 'type' barn of the early kind . . . Side opening, three bay barn, here with a gabled roof. Moved here and reconstructed, from the Leon Rossignol farm near Van Buren. Like others, it has a lean-to shed addition on one of the gables. Such additions were probably built at or soon after the moment of construction of the barn itself. Typically they are for sheltering the cattle and draft animals. Conceptually they may be thought of as 'additions' but they are integral elements. The barn combines late medieval-looking heavy hewn and joined framing members with more modern sawn smaller members. A fine example, and it even sports the standard shingle siding characteristic of St. John Valley traditional farm buildings." In this region, this type of barn is also called la grange acadienne, or an Acadian barn.

About the site: On May 9, 1973, a corporation was formed and named, "Notre Héritage Vivant." The name represents the eastern part of the Saint John Valley in Aroostook County, Maine. It encompasses the communities of Grand Isle, Van Buren, Hamlin, and Cyr Plantation. The purpose of the corporation is to foster, promote, and encourage interest in the history and in preserving the heritage and culture of the people of the region. Many fundraising projects were held and, with the help of generous supporters who donated land and buildings, the Acadian Village was underway. Gilles Nadeau was chosen as the village designer. The society received a CETA grant and a matching grant from the Maine State Bicentennial Commission. When the weather permitted, volunteers started getting the land ready and moving buildings one at a time or constructing new buildings on the site of the present village.

Potato barns are one of the distinctive architectures of the region - partially underground and surrounded by earth, they were designed to store barrels of potatoes at a constant, cool temperature. Potato barns contain small stoves to ward off frost in the winter; the chimneys, in addition to the subterranean architecture, help identify a potato barn.

This potato house in New Canada (formerly Daigle) was originally built as an ice house, according to the survey paperwork that accompanies its photos. It was 1.5 stories with one bay, unknown frame construction, no chimney (built as an ice house, so an interesting example), metal gambrel roof, wood shingle exterior walls, and a fieldstone foundation. An Acadian man named Demasse Pelletier designed and built this for himself in the 1920s for agricultural purposes. The subsequent significant owner was Leo F. Pelletier (likely his son) who owned the potato house at the time of the survey.

Original Caption: "Landry's South Side of Barn." Most barns in Maine and in Aroostook County have served a variety of purposes throughout their time, with or without modifications, as farmers attempted to adapt to changing agricultural patterns and economic demands. The barn's marked use for potato storage in 1974 is in keeping with the fact that potatoes have been a key crop in the County for over a century now. Storage built into the ground helps insulate the potatoes during Northern Maine's long, cold winters, while keeping them cool during the summer.

Photographer David Gilbert's pictures of the Landry barn did not include a specific location either as a caption or as a descriptor. Other items in his collection featured buildings in Eagle Lake and on the Little Black River. When contacted in 2022, Mr. Gilbert could not be certain of the Landry barn's exact location, but believes that these pictures were taken on the north side of the main road in St. Francis.

Original photo caption: “Landry’s East Side of Barn. has a cellar used as a potato bin. used to be used as an animal bin.”

This image showcases the gambrel roof style prevalent in barns of northern Aroostook County, another feature that marks County barns as distinct, according to Don Perkins’ The Barns of Maine. He credits this to “a combination of ethnic influence and the region’s [comparatively] late settlement.” Perkins notes that this roof style can help date a barn, as most were built after 1900, between the first and second world wars -- and that the design’s popularity seems to have spread to the rest of the state from Aroostook County. Gambrel roofs are locally called colm-casse, or broken comb.

David Gilbert's pictures of the Landry barn did not include a specific location either as a caption or as a descriptor. Other items in his collection featured buildings in Eagle Lake and on the Little Black River. When contacted in 2022, Mr. Gilbert could not be certain of the Landry barn's exact location, but proved fairly confident that these pictures were taken on the north side of the main road in St. Francis.

Original Caption: “M(?). Landry’s Barn inside looking up and East, beams pegged and cut by axe.” Daniel Deveau points out that many of the region's barns resemble upturned boats, especially when examining their framing. To him, this is an Acadian feature; he notes that Acadians built gambrel-style roofs, while French-Canadian or Québécois builders chose gable roofs primarily. The maritime background of Acadians, many of whom were shipbuilders, could explain this difference. Another reason for this roof style could be practical -- one barn owner explained that lots and lots of loose hay led to the architectural style's creation -- Aroostook County started baling hay later than the rest of the state, and gambrel roofs create more interior space to store it.

Many of the barns in the region, like this one, use hand-hewn timber and braces, with no flared posts or English tying joints which are common elsewhere.

Photographer David Gilbert's pictures of the Landry barn did not include a specific location either as a caption or as a descriptor. Other items in his collection featured buildings in Eagle Lake and on the Little Black River. When contacted in 2022, Mr. Gilbert could not be certain of the Landry barn's exact location, but proved fairly confident that these pictures were taken on the north side of the main road in St. Francis.

This ship's knee brace was found in the Morneault House (built ca. 1857) in the Acadian Village. As defined in The Barns of Maine, a ship's knee brace is "a continuous piece of wood that forms an approximate right angle and is used for bracing in barns. Ship's knees are typically made from a stump or tree-branch section and are commonly used in traditional shipbuilding." Ship's knees are very uncommon in barns generally, but have been found in numerous barns in the Fort Kent area. Mr. Cyr, in Howard Marshall's field notes, says they were chosen because they held everything very tightly together. The maritime ship-building backgrounds of many of the region's Acadians is surely related as well.

Original Photo Caption: "Landry's Barn. Morter and tennen." Mortise and tenon joints are an ancient style of joint with two parts, where the tenon fits into the mortise, creating a very strong joint. One can see the hand-hewn wood in this photo as well. The large pines that became wide barn boards in more southern barns are not so present in the crown of Maine, so smaller boards and poles of spruce or fir are much more commonly-seen building materials.

Photographer David Gilbert's pictures of the Landry barn did not include a specific location either as a caption or as a descriptor. Other items in his collection featured buildings in Eagle Lake and on the Little Black River. When contacted in 2022, Mr. Gilbert could not be certain of the Landry barn's exact location, but proved fairly confident that these pictures were taken on the north side of the main road in St. Francis.

This twin barn stood in Hamlin until it burnt to the ground (a case of arson) in July of 1991. It was an atypical twin barn due to the gambrel roofs, arched windows, and elaborate truss structure. Though gambrel roofs are common in the area, they are not commonly found on twin barns. The reasons for its decorative construction choices are unknown.

Though there is not an exact date, stylistic elements would place this barn's construction in the early decades of the twentieth century.

This structure in Frenchville is one of only a few twin barns that are still standing in 2023. It is an unusual example because it has two additions; these additions with their wide doorways suggest that one primary use for this barn has been equipment storage.

As an architectural design, the twin barn is unique to the Maine side of the St. John River. This is "a large structure consisting of two parallel sections joining to form an 'H'" when seen from above, and "never connected to outbuildings or the house." According to Victor Konrad and Michael Chaney, these barns are "a symbol of French Canadian culture, adopted during the period between the 1880s and 1930s when French Valley residents were eager to assert their Franco-American identity." The architectural style "presents an alternative to the New England connecting barn which prevails in the rest of agricultural Aroostook County."