Architecture

The evolution of the Barnard House

The earliest part of the structure is thought to have been constructed by Amos Harry between 1803 and 1823. Facing the front of the building, quoins (patterned corner stones) can be observed on the left edge of the building as well as to the left edge of the right hand entry door. This was the width of the core of the original house. It would have been a three bay, two and one half story structure with a single entry door at the right corner of the first floor.

Wilkinson House

In 1884 landowner Lewis Wilkinson constructed a new Rural Gothic style dwelling house on the lot adjacent to his bran warehouse at Seeds Bridge Station. An earlier spur line was removed and the railroad right of way passed in front of the new residence. The house was of a simple cross gable design and had a simple 3 bay front porch adorned with turned posts and ornamental brackets.

Allen House

Isaac Allen and his wife Lydia sold two tracts of land to James Allen in 1765, one containing 326 acres in Newlin Township and an adjoining 38 acre tract in East Marlborough (today Pocopson.) James Allen was a Quaker farmer who was originally from West Nottingham where he married his wife Jane Brown. He removed with his family to East Marlborough and joined the Kennett Meeting in 1761. His main residence was located on the 38 acre tract in East Marlborough which lies along the road to the Great Valley (present day Red Lion Road).

Pocopson Railroad Station

 

The "Shingle Style" structure that most people recognize as Pocopson Station is the second structure constructed for that purpose.

Draft Specifications for Renovations- late 19th century

(From Page 3 or 5)

1870 Construction Clues

The construction history of the Locust Grove Schoolhouse is still a mystery. Although there is documentary evidence that the Schoolhouse existed before 1870, it is not verified when it was originally constructed or what the building looked like prior to 1870. The Pocopson School Board minutes use a variety of descriptions to record the 1870 building period: building, rebuilding, construction, and renovation. Architectural clues from the roof and cellar shed light on the 1870 “renovation.”

Roof Construction Clues (Text)

Locust Grove Schoolhouse Architecture

The Locust Grove Schoolhouse is a typical example of a rural southeastern nineteenth-century Pennsylvania schoolhouse. A date stone above the Locust Grove Schoolhouse portico reads 1870; this date refers to the rebuilding of a preexisting schoolhouse, which expanded the original foundation and extended the front façade, adding two cloakrooms, a belfry, and portico entry to the prior design.

Typical Characteristics of One-room Schoolhouses

One-room schoolhouses vary by geographic region and time period. Building materials ranged from wood, to brick, to stone. Most were rectangular in form but there was a trend to construct octagonal one-room schoolhouses, in hope of better lighting each scholar’s workspace. Pennsylvania has preserved examples of these architecturally significant one-room schoolhouses. Most rectangular or square forms possess a single prominent entrance opposite a solid rear wall. The defining feature is a front façade with a gable end roof, topped by a bell and belfry.