Joseph Parks Farm, Barn, Sharpsburg, Washington County, MD

Structure name changed due to further research, 11/2005.
Significance: The property known today as the Joseph Parks Farm was purchased by Jacob Mumma in 1796. The barn was most likely constructed before 1821, when Jacob sold the property to his son John. John Mumma died in 1835, and the property was purchased back from the estate by Jacob, who sold it the following year to his younger son, Samuel. In 1861 Samuel Mumma sold the farm to Philip Pry Jr., who in turn leased the property to Joseph Parks. Parks, his wife Aletha, and their six children resided at the farm at the time of the Civil War battle of 17 September 1862. Located adjacent to Antietam Creek and its important "Middle Bridge" crossing, the Joseph Parks Farm was occupied during the battle by infantry and artillery of the Union Army's 5th Corps, and by Cavalry under the command of General Pleasonton. The barn is believed to have sheltered some of the wounded. At some point in the late nineteenth century, an addition containing a wagon shed and corn crib was constructed at the east end of the barn. In 2003 the Joseph Parks Farm was acquired by the National Park Service, as part of Antietam National Battlefield.

The barn at the Joseph Parks Farm is a good example of a Pennsylvania bank barn, an agricultural building type introduced to the region by Swiss and German settlers in the mid-eighteenth century. Its asymmetrical gable ends identify it as a "Sweitzer" type barn. The foundation and lower level exterior walls were built of limestone masonry construction. The lower level features a half-open cantilevered forebay along the south side, and housed feeding and milking stalls for livestock. An earthen ramp leads to the upper level on the north side of the barn. The upper level was built of heavy timber construction, with mortise-and-tenon and pegged joints. The barn is sheathed with vertical oak boards of random width. In plan, the upper level housed a central threshing area flanked by two hay/straw mows, with a granary located in the southeast corner.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1028
Survey number: HABS MD-940-A
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000038