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Barn Loom

Depreciation Land Museum’s Barn Frame Loom

The large loom in the back of the room in the textile area is a barn frame loom.  We believe the loom is between 200 and 250 years old.  The loom was purchased in December of 2023 from a lady in Michigan.  It was purchased by her father for her mother from a lady in Schenectady New York in 1993.  We don’t know the provenance of the loom prior to that time.

The loom is a 4 post design that was common for looms of an English style.  The name comes from the style of construction – mortise and tenon held together with hand carved wooden pegs and wedges.  These looms were individually built so each is unique.  Barns were often built using the same methods.  There are a couple of other explanations for the name.  One is that a loom this size was not kept in the house but rather was kept in the barn.

A loom of this type might have been used by the woman of the house to weave the simple fabrics from linen and wool that were made into the clothing for the family.  Cotton was not raised in this area.

You can see similar barn frame looms at the Buckeye Agricultural Museum in Wooster, Ohio, in the Daniel Boone Homestead in Birdsboro, PA, in the Spinning House of Mount Vernon, and in the Weaver’s Cabin at Williamsburg among other places.