Virginia

Slave Quarters, Bacon's Castle Plantation, Surry Co. VA (37.10658, -76.7229)

(a) Felling Date: North (Left-hand side) Winter 1828/9

(b) Felling Date: South (Right-hand extension) Winter 1847/8

(a) Ceiling joists 1828(C), 1807, 1788; Principal rafter (0/1); rafters (0/3). (b) Ceiling joists 1847(C), 1842; Rafters (0/3); Wall-plate (0/1); Studs (0/2); Post (0/1). Site Master 1730-1847 BAC (pine) (t = 8.9 SJC; 6.7 VA021; 6.6 FSQx2; 6.2 LGN).

This 1½ -story pine-framed duplex has a gable roof, horizontal siding, and two exterior end chimneys. The building rests on brick piers and has a porch centred on its front (west) façade that covers the three exterior doorways, one each for the two downstairs rooms, and a third that opens onto the central staircase providing access to the two garret rooms. The interior walls of the first floor rooms are covered with wood, butted planks in the south room and beaded siding in the north. Each of the garret rooms has a brick fireplace and gable-end windows. The building is the result of two phases of construction, with the earliest section to the north constructed circa 1829, and was extended southwards in about 1848.

Miles, D W H and Worthington, M J, 2009 ‘The Tree-Ring Dating of Eight Virginia Slave Buildings’, unpublished ODL archive report 2009/05.

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Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory

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Baltimore, MD 21230

410-929-1520