The Great Barn Foundation at Strong-Porter
Not a great deal is known about the Great Barn at Strong-Porter House. According to George Dudley Seymour, the barn was built by Thomas E. Porter. It is unclear exactly when the barn was built, but evidence suggests that it was built in the 1850's.The barn burned down somewhere around 1890.
"The above view is taken from an illustration from Cole's History of Tolland County, published in 1888 and presumably represents the Porter Homestead as it appeared about that time. The great barn, built by Mr. Thomas E. Porter (the last of the Porters) was burned down about 40 years ago. It stood more to the Northwest than as shown in the picture." Quoting from G. W. Seymour, May 1930.
The large wooden barn included a basement, a main floor and a second story with a large cupola on the roof. On the gable ends, two ramps, underlaid with fieldstone, led to the main floor of the barn. The basement level had one wall open to the north and may have been used to store wagons and other large pieces of equipment. The sketch of the barn shows a four-bay carriage shed, with an enclosed "office" at the southwestern corner. Apparently, the office and shed were not destroyed when the rest of the barn burned. This section disappeared sometime after 1890, although the exact date is unknown.
