Cornelius Buckner Barn

Address:

1140 Ponder Creek Road
Mars Hill NC 28754

Year Built: late 1800s

Historic Owners: Cornelius Buckner, Morgan Rice

Description:

The Cornelius Buckner barn is a classic barn form similar to other large barns of the Beech Glen township and of the period: a large livestock barn with multiple log cribs supporting a large hay loft with lattice siding. It is a bank barn, the bank height determined by the height of a hay wagon bed. The bank is supported by a wall of large, dry stacked rocks. The structure includes partial timber framing with mortise and tenon joinery with peg fasteners. An unusual feature is the use of crossed diagonal braces between floor joists, a technique that came into common use much later. Stall doors also use mortise and tenon joints. Boxed board chutes are present in the loft to drop corn and grain to the animal stalls below. The mangers and hayracks are a unique design. The loft has been retrofitted with tier poles to hang burley tobacco, likely in the 1920’s. An enclosed work room was likely added later as a case house and granary and tack room.
The barn is located at a distance from the main road, which is unusual for this type of large, older barn, and would have been part of a large tract of land and a prosperous farmstead. As with many of the older barns, oral tradition from a neighbor has it as built “before the Civil War”, around 1858, but that is unlikely. The Buckner family was a large family that settled throughout the east end of Madison County. The community along the Middle Fork Creek valley was once called “Buckner”

Historic Use: livestock, general purpose

Type of Construction: Post and Beam, Timber Frame, Mortise and tenon, Sawn lumber, Hewn Timbers, and Notched Logs

Siding Materials: Milled Boards and Lattice

Roof Shape: Gable

Roofing Materials: Split wood Shingles

Roof Framing: Milled rafters

Foundation: Dry-Laid Stone and Wood sills on rock piers

Species of Wood: Chestnut

Hinges: Commercial Metal

Fasteners: Wire nails

Additional Features:

mortise and tenon stall doors

Outbuildings: none proximate to this barn

NOTE: The information above is an abridged list. For the full unabridged list (complete details), please download the PDF of the Data Form above.