Site of the Original Pritchard Barn

Site of the Original Pritchard Barn. Few Traces Remain of this Historic Structure. , The original Pritchard family's barn pictured below stood here throughout the Civil War until about 1969, when it was torn down., The barn served as a shelter for the soldiers, as a hospital area and as a morgue. There is a story from a Union soldier's diary which related an occurance in the midst of the battle of First Kernstown during which Union troops were taking shelter in the barn. A shot from a Confederate cannon just south of the village went through the barn's main door causing a quick exodus by the troops., The original two-level farm barn stood on this embankment until being replaced by the white Amish-built barn you see 200 yards to the west. The foundation rocks are still visible near the base of the bank., During the razing of the barn in the late 1960s the workers noted that the flooring boards were still soaked with the blood of casualties from the three battles fought here., The original barn, shown in the image below, was 40-feet wide by 76-feet long for an area of 3,040 square feet per floor and ably served as storage for the farm's crops. Silos had not yet been introduced here., (Caption):, Portion of the only known photo of the original Pritchard barn, built prior to the Civil War. Photo taken in the 1960s.