North Carolina Tobacco Drying Barn

While we were visiting Beverly’s daughter and family (in March 2018), we saw many old tobacco barns in various states of disrepair in the area. Her daughter mentioned this one and she took us to see it. I particularly liked the warped planks on the west side of the barn (as shown in Johnston County, NC Tobacco Barn 6) so we managed to get closer and took photos showing more details. Although we had noticed the spring colors in the trees in the background, I didn’t realize how colorful they were on that cloudy day until I saw this photo on my computer screen.

This tobacco barn, on private property in Johnston County, NC, is about 100 years old (the construction details aren’t known anymore). There was an identical barn adjacent to it which was damaged during a hurricane, probably about 2010. The barn is built of wood planks on a brick foundation, using a three-layer plank construction. First is a layer of vertical planks, which is covered with tar paper. Next is a second layer of 1″ horizontal planks. Finally, these layers are covered by a third layer of 1″ vertical planks, in a board-and-batten arrangement. These battens are wider boards instead of narrow strips. The outer plank layer and the battens are attached to the inner layers with 20d (4″) nails. Where outer boards have deteriorated or fallen away, the nails remain like a pincushion.

The barn is oriented with the roof ridge running east and west, and the doors on the north and south sides. Originally there was a shed roof on the west side of the barn, and the third layer of vertical planks was omitted under the roof. This shed roof has been gone for a long time.

Background

North Carolina is the top tobacco producing state in the nation and Johnston County is the top tobacco producing county of North Carolina. In the eastern Piedmont area of North Carolina, which includes Johnston County, there are thousands and thousands of small, old tobacco barns, mostly in various states of decay. Traditionally, each farm had one or more to cure their own tobacco. Over time, these traditional curing barns have fallen into disuse, in favor of more modern methods of curing tobacco.