Acadian Archives

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.