THE BANK BARN
We don't
know when the barn was built, but it may pre-date the house. Richard
was sent
to Pennsylvania as a youth to do an apprenticeship. There, he lived
with his
relatives who were barn builders, and this is perhaps where he
learned how to
build on the bank or slope of the hill. In this way, both floors of
the barn
can be reached from ground level. This type of barn is very typical
of
Pennsylvania, but is quite unusual for this part of the country.
The barn contains a number of buggies and
wagons of
the era, but our proudest possession
is a
false bottomed wagon used during the days of the Underground
Railroad.
To our knowledge there are only two of
these wagons
left in this country. This wagon is not original to the Plantation,
but was
given to us to preserve its history. Runaways entered through the
back and lay
on the bottom boards. It was said that up to twelve small
individuals could be
accommodated; three or four would be more typical. The driver then
closed front
and back ends with the sliding wooden panels, covered the top with
appropriate
goods, and proceeded along its way. According to family stories, our
wagon made
several trips to Ohio. For
more about the
false-bottomed wagon, click here.
Mendenhall Plantation – 603 W. Main Street –
Jamestown, NC 27282