Help us raise the Burr-Deacon Barn at Peachfield! The Burr-Deacon Barn was built in 1875, and it was donated by Miss Mildred Deacon to the NSCDA-NJ in 2014. It was disassembled and stored at Peachfield while architectural and structural engineering plans were made. As the NSCDA-NJ begins the next active stage of reconstruction, we need your help to raise the Burr-Deacon Barn so Peachfield can expand its public programming offerings for years to come and return Peachfield to even more of an authentic historic farmstead.
For donations by check: Make checks payable to “NSCDA-NJ” and note “Barn Donation” in the memo line Mail to: Peachfield, 180 Burrs Road, Westampton, NJ 08060
For donations from an IRA, a Donor-Advised Fund, stock transfers, or contributions of personal property: please contact the Peachfield office for detailed instructions. at staff@peachfield.org
September 2022 – Update on the Barn Project
Cullen Construction’s masonry crew with foundation footers excavated to below frost level. Cullen Construction’s masonry crew pours concrete for the footers of the Burr-Deacon Barn’s foundation.
In 2014, NSCDA-NJ President Echo R. Fling toured Miss Mildred Deacon’s 1875 barn with Museum Properties Chair Judith Perinchief. Afterward, Miss Deacon agreed to donate the barn to the NSCDA-NJ for preservation to help fulfill its mission of historic education. In 2015, the barn was carefully deconstructed by the Samuel Zook and Sons, an Amish construction group based in Pennsylvania.. Each historic beam was labeled and organized for storage.To the left in this photo, circa 1930s, the previous dairy barn at Peachfield can be seen. Peachfield’s lands have been continuously operated as a working farm since the early 18th century. With a restored historic barn, Peachfield can continue to be, as Miriam Harker requested, “as it has always been.”The NSCDA-NJ engaged the services of Archer and Buchanan Architecture to draw up plans for the site and reconstruction of the barn. Our goal is to have the barn located in a similar position as a barn that previously existed on the property in the early 20th century with handicap accessible parking.
Meanwhile, Methods and Materials, led by Jack Witherington, set about the timber-framing and reconditioning of the original wood beams of the barn. The carpenters’ marks and carvings from the 1870s, labeling the sections of the barn more than a century ago were truly fascinating.
