The Breckinridge Tobacco Barn
The Breckinridge Tobacco Barn is located on the grounds of Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum in Southern Maryland. Erected in the late 19th century by the Peterson family and their tenant farmers, the Bowen family, it was used for air drying tobacco. Tobacco cultivation was historically the main source of income for much of the population in Southern Maryland. The decline of this way of life was recently documented in a November 14, 2011 Washington Post article. In May 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Southern Maryland tobacco barns in its 2004 list of America’s Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places. The main threats to the survival of Southern Maryland’s historic tobacco barns are suburban development and the state tobacco buyout program. The Breckinridge Barn, while protected, is used only for ancillary storage. Despite the valiant efforts of Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum staff it is largely neglected in these times of economic turmoil. The building needs a new roof, flooring, water, lighting (electricity has been run to it) and the interior needs renovation in order to allow the barn to be used as a space where we can teach the new generation in Southern Maryland about their heritage.
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