Higgins Barn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Higgins Barn
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 Location in Maine
Location in the United States
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| Location | 256 Oak Hill Road, Indian Point, Bar Harbor, Maine |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1910 |
| NRHP reference No. | 03001502 |
| Added to NRHP | January 28, 2004 |
The Higgins Barn is a very old and important building located at 256 Oak Hill Road in Indian Point, a quiet area in western Bar Harbor, Maine. It is an example of an English barn, a type of barn common in early American history. Experts believe it was built around 1810 by Ichabod Higgins. This makes it one of the oldest buildings in the Indian Point area, dating back to when the first settlers arrived. Because of its historical value, the Higgins Barn was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
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Exploring the Higgins Barn
The Higgins Barn sits on the west side of Oak Hill Road. It is about 325 feet (99 meters) away from the main road. On the same property, there is also an old house from the 1830s or 1840s, a family cemetery, and other smaller buildings.
What Does the Barn Look Like?
The barn is about one-and-a-half stories tall. It measures about 30 feet (9.1 meters) wide and 40 feet (12 meters) long. Like most English barns, its main entrance faces east, along its longer side. The barn was built with strong, hand-cut wooden beams. It rests on a foundation made of fieldstones, which are stones found naturally in fields. The roof has two sloping sides, a style called a side-gable roof.
The outside walls are covered with different types of wood shingles. Some of these shingles have special clipped and rounded shapes, which were popular in the late 1800s. The front of the barn has a large double sliding door that is not exactly in the middle. A wide porch covers this door. There is one window on the first floor and another window higher up in the loft area.
An interesting part of the barn is its upper southernmost section. This part hangs slightly over an open area below. This space was later used for storing wood and as a chicken yard. This change was made in the late 1800s. The main door on the west side of the barn used to look like the one on the east side. However, it has since been closed off, and two windows were put in its place.
Inside the Barn
The inside of the Higgins Barn has a typical English barn layout. There is a wide hall in the center. On either side of this hall, there were stalls for animals. Above these stalls, there were lofts for storing hay. Some of the stalls on the left side have been partly taken apart. This was done to make room for milking equipment.
A Glimpse into History: The Higgins Family
Indian Point is located on the northwestern part of Mount Desert Island. The Higgins family was one of the first groups to settle on the island. They arrived in 1763. Ichabod Higgins' parents moved to the island from Cape Cod in 1778.
In May 1811, a document was recorded. It showed that 100 acres (40 hectares) of land at Indian Point were transferred from John Barnard to Ichabod Higgins. John Barnard was one of the island's early landowners. Ichabod Higgins had already passed away by 1811. However, his estate records showed that he owned a house and a barn. This suggests that he had likely been living on the land for some time before his death.
The land in this area stayed with the Higgins family descendants for many years. It was used for farming during that time. In 1981, the parcel of land that included the house and barn was about 40 acres (16 hectares). It was then divided into smaller pieces for new development.
