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.