Medad Stone Tavern Barn
The Guilford Preservation Alliance is proud to announce the recipients of the GPA Awards for 2014. The awards are given to recognize preservation, restoration, and/or historical scholarly work done by individuals, businesses, or organizations. The 2014 awards honor the preservation and restoration of three local barns; Jim Powers, the author of Saving the Farm; Megan Vanacore, the creator of local historic bus tours; and the Guilford Free Library for digitization of historic photographs.
Awards will be presented at the Guilford Friends of the Library and Guilford Preservation Alliance lecture on the Connecticut Barn Trail: “Connecticut’s Barns, an illustrated talk with Charlotte Hitchcock” on May 14th at 7:00 p.m. at the Guilford Free Library. (See flyer). Charlotte Hitchcock is an architect and works as a researcher for the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. Her talk will highlight several Guilford barns that are on the Trail.
The barns being recognized by the GPA this year are examples from the 18th and 19th centuries. The oldest is the Auerbach/Schaeffer barn, built by Thomas Burgis in 1736 and restored in 2008. The second barn being honored is the Boughton barn, which is being recognized for its adaptive reuse as a music rehearsal and performance space. Built in 1854 and restored in 2013, the barn is sited on one of Guilford’s few remaining early 19th century farmsteads. The third barn receiving an award for restoration is the Medad Stone Tavern barn. It was built in 1897, reusing materials from an earlier barn that was destroyed by fire. The restoration was completed in 2013.
GPA recognizes the work of several individuals, including the Guilford Free Library staff for creating the Digital Archive of the Edith B. Nettleton Historical Room Collection. Through their efforts, many fragile and historical documents are now available worldwide to anyone interested in Guilford history. In addition, GPA will honor Jim Powers, a Guilford High School teacher who wrote Saving the Farm, a book chronicling the efforts made to transform the Dudley Farm into a museum. He has been involved in the evolution of the museum, as well as educating students in local history. And finally, GPA acknowledges the contributions of GHS senior Megan Vanacore, who developed historic bus tours of our community as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award. Through her efforts, many people have explored Guilford’s heritage, and will continue to do so in the future.
This program is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Library and the Guilford Preservation Alliance.
Please register online (www.guilfordfreelibrary.org) , by phone (203-453-8282), or in person.
