By Laura Lefko
(July 27, 2022) — On Wednesday July 20, 2022 the Killingworth Historical Society held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new barn to be built behind the farmhouse at Parmelee Farm. Members of the Killingworth Lions and the Killingworth community were also in attendance.
The new barn will go into the space formerly occupied by the garage. The garage was carefully and meticulously relocated, over the course of three days, to a spot just north of the farmhouse and was placed on a new foundation by Schumack Construction.
Approximately 90% of the funds to build the new barn were raised by the Killingworth Historical Society over several years through their Christmas fairs and annual tag sales. The Killingworth Lions donated the funds raised at their concert this spring, along with a few private donors to raise the remaining 10% to fully fund the project.
The new barn will be a 36’ x 34’, one-and-a-half story, post-and-beam barn and will house Killingworth historical artifacts like the hearse, farm implements, wagons, etc. The second-floor space will be used for artifact storage. Site work will be done by Schumack Construction and construction of the barn will be done by Country Carpenters. Completion of the project is expected to be done by late September of this year.
This morning I talked with Ken Wodatch, Killingworth Historical Society President who said, “The Historical Society is very grateful for the support from the community and is looking forward to expanding our campus space at Parmelee Farm.” Hilary Kumnick, immediate past President of the Lions said, “The Lions were thrilled to be able to partner in this barn raising,” and from current Lions President Rick Clare, “Parmelee Farm has become a center of community life in Killingworth, and the Historical Society has done a superb job of preserving the town’s extensive history. The Lions are pleased that our fundraising has helped the Historical Society to preserve its artifacts and to make them more available to the people of our town.”
I will close with this from Linda Dudek, former president and longtime board member: “The KHS barn project is becoming a reality! It’s been a long haul with years of planning and saving. The Historical Society is grateful to all our supporters. The Society has collected numerous Killingworth artifacts, especially items relating to our farming heritage and the barn will give a proper home to our collections.”
Photo by Laura Lefko
