Woodshed

These next few stops are functional buildings, which reveal some of the tasks done by Americans living in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Wood was the major source of fuel for heat in the 1700s.  Fireplaces or stoves were used for cooking and for heating homes.  A property this size would use a great deal of wood for heating and cooking throughout the year.  The wood shed kept the wood dry and accessible to folks living in the house or cooking in the kitchen. 

Imagine – it is January 1765, a cold and snowy winter.  Not only are you cooking every day, but you also need to keep the fireplaces and stoves, one in each room, warm all day and night.  You would use quite a bit of wood!

The next stop – the smoke house – is just to your right.