Weston at Work
Weston at Work - A permanent exhibit in the historic Coley Barn.
Come explore the history of agriculture, manufacturing and textile production in Weston and Connecticut during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the interactive exhibit, “Weston at Work”.
Children can card wool, weave on a wall loom, use a rope and pulley to raise a hay bale and more!
The exhibit highlights the many people, including immigrant populations, people of African descent, women, and children, who helped put Weston to work.
With hands-on activities for children, rare Bradley Axe tools, farming implements, a working loom and countless historic images, “Weston at Work” allows visitors of all ages to actively engage in learning about Weston’s past.
“Weston at Work” gets out its shovel and digs deep into the people behind the tools, exploring stories of struggle and success.
- Learn about the immigrant community that developed around an internationally famous wire mill.
- Engage with diary entries and news articles that shed light on the people of African descent working and living in Weston and the surrounding area.
- Work on a loom that was used as a main source of income for a widowed mother of four.
- Learn about Weston’s former vibrant industrial and agricultural history that helped to shape the lives of residents and workers of the town throughout the past 150 years.
“Weston at Work” is supported in part by grants and donations from the following organizations: CT Humanities, the Daniel E. Offutt, III Charitable Trust, the Twenty-Seven Foundation, Elizabeth Raymond Ambler Trust, Flagstar Bank, Kiwanis Club of Weston and over 25 private donors.
“Weston at Work” was curated by Dr. Daryn Reyman-Lock, with exhibit design by Scott Kuykendall and exhibit interactives by former executive director, Samantha Fargione.
Coley Barn History
Built by David Dimon Coley in early 1883 to replace a similar barn consumed by fire in December of 1882. The rebuilt barn, like the original, was actually a large storage barn for hay and grain with an attached horse stable and livestock shed. The horse stable, which stood on the site of the present herb garden, was destroyed or torn down in the early 1950s.
Architectural History of the Coley Barn
The Barn reflects an “English” style once common along the New England coast. It features a simple gable roof with the ridge line running at right angles to the prevailing winds, an oversized cupola, and huge doors on the opposing long sides. Each of these features served a number of very practical purposes.
The doors, when opened, enabled the farmer to take advantage of wind power to help thresh grain, the area between the doors was the “threshing floor.” The large doors also allowed the farmer to pull their hay wagons into the barn for unloading.
The over-sized cupola ventilated the immense heat generated by the stored hay that was curing in the lofts, a good ventilator would repel lightning. The trend toward ventilation began in the Connecticut Valley when each farmer chose to express himself architecturally by designing an individual style of cupola. It also allowed birds into the barn to help control the rodents and insect population. And it provided a high mount for one of the farmer’s most important tools, the weathervane.
With English-style barns becoming increasingly rare, the Coley Homestead barn represents an historical asset of major importance.